Rebel Yell
by pennaroyaltea
Summary: Royal sat down next to skittery, a rush of guilt and fear spreading through her body as she watched her lover mentally brake down by her side. rated for language and for sex in the last few chapters posted.
1. chapter 1

Disclaimer: i do not own any of the newsies (though i wish i did) and they are all owned by some big shot in disney who totally shouldnt have had the pleasure of working with all the christian bale and michael a. goorjian and should have givin me the pleasure instead lolz (it makes perfect sense in my head so shush)

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Royal squinted through the darkness at the note pressed against her palm, matching the street name written down on the paper to the street sign on the corner. She shifted her small bundle on to the other shoulder as she realized that she still had 2 more blocks to walk. Dragging her feet on the cobblestone, she began to walk once more, nerves building up inside of her. At the top of the smudged directions sheet, was written Newsboys Lodging House.

Royal recalled her conversation earlier that day with Mrs. Muller when she had been given the information. She had asked Mrs. Muller as politely as possible why she had been assigned to stay at a news_boys_ lodging house instead of a news_girls. _Royal chuckled as she remembered Mrs. Muller's brisk voice responding,

"If you don't like it… another child can go leave in your place. Maybe he or she would be more appreciative of their newly obtained freedom."

Royal had not argued further. The older orphans had always told her when she was younger that when she was 18 she had to escape the 45th street orphanage and get away as far as she could. Royal was now 16 and was escaping to another boarding house only two miles away.

Royal collected herself as she approached the lodging house.

The building was old and the bricks were slowly crumbling at its base. A small wooden sign hung above the doorframe and light flowed out a large window to the left of the door. Laughter and chatting could be heard coming from the second floor.

Royal stepped on the stoop of the building, raking her fingers through her long brown hair in an effort to tame its waves. She could feel her stomach turning over as she opened the door to the building, a cascade of firelight falling upon her.

She stepped through the door way into a dimly lit room, warm and comfortable with a fire burning in the fireplace. Doors were on either side of her and a small clerks desk lay in front. As petite, gray haired man came out from the door on her right, having heard her enter. He stepped behind the desk, straightening out his vest and boa-tie.

"Why hello," he said warmly in a small voice, urging her to step forward from the door.

"Hi, uh you must be…"

Royal glanced down at the sweaty note, now crinkled in her hand.

"…Mr. Kloppman?" her voice shook though he didn't seem to notice.

"Yes… and you are?"

Feeling more welcomed she let out a small sigh of relief.

"I'm…" she paused momentarily; contemplating on whether to use royal or the name her parents had given her.

Mr. Kloppman waited for her to go on.

"I'm Ramona Canely but most people just call me royal."

Mr. Kloppman smiled pleasantly once more,

"Well royal how do you do?"

"Very well indeed sir…um…I was directed here by the 45th street orphanage…ah… I will understand if you only take boys…but um…I was wondering if I could lodge here?" she looked down at her brown leather shoes and then back up at Kloppman's eager face.

"No, no, no of course you can lodge here… I'm not saying any other girls have but I'm sure the boys will be quite excited if you do."

She smiled, relief rushing over her; a rejection from Mr. Kloppman would have meant going back to the orphanage to get a new lodging address, making it even harder to prove to Mrs. Muller that she was mature enough to be on her own.

"Oh thank you so much Mr. Kloppman." She said with as much sincerity as she could muster.

" Oh, there is no need for you to call me Mr. Kloppman. Kloppman will do just fine. And there is no need to thank me either, as long as I get my 10 cents every month you can stay here as long as you like."

"Don't worry Kloppman, you'll get it every month I swear."

Kloppman chuckled at her honesty.

"C'mon I'll introduce you to the boys."

He stepped out from behind the counter and led her through the door on the left to a tall, narrow staircase. He began to ascend the steps, taking his time as if there was in no rush at all.

Royal rationed with her self that the man was probably around 60 years old or so, not much older then Mrs. Muller though a great deal shorter. Kloppman was about as tall as royal shoulder, meaning he would have probably reached Mrs. Muller's elbow.

They reached the top of the stairs and the old man let out a short, little huff before steering towards a large door off to their right. He swung the door open grandly and stepped in side, motioning for royal to do the same.

She shuffled into the room and glanced around. About 20 beds were lined up in rows of 5 or 6 and a small desk was set against back wall under an average sized window. The room was littered with boys of all sizes, young and old, big and small. Royal looked about the room with awe set upon her face. It looked like a larger version of a bunkroom at the orphanage yet for some reason everything seemed to be more comforting. Smiles were set upon the boy's faces and even the older, more rebellious ones seemed to be happy and content.

"Attention boys! Attention!" Kloppman clapped his wrinkled hands together.

Suddenly all faces were turned towards royal and the old man. Royal blushed, as they looked her up and down judgmentally, their smiles fading though returning shortly after.

"This is royal, she's our new lodger."

Some of the boys waved in her direction though most just stared at her in both confusion and wonder.

"I know you boys have never had a girl lodging with you but try not to single her out."

Royal shook a nervous hand in an attempt to wave back at the boys.

"Hello…" she said faintly, glancing around the room once more at the enormous amount of new faces. New faces that had names which she must learn. New faces with personalities she must master. So many people to introduce her self to.

Although royal had been around masses of children her whole life, she was not the social type and would not say hi to someone if they did not say hi to her first. She had always reasoned with her self that people would talk to her if they wanted to and if they didn't… well at least she wouldn't be made a fool of trying to engage them in a conversation.

Realizing that Kloppman's announcement was over, the younger boys began to run around and talk once more though the other boy's attention remained at the front of the room.

"Ah…jack?" Kloppman said finally, focusing his attention on one boy and quieting his voice.

"Would you mind introducing her to the other newsies?"

The boy dug his hands and in his pockets and smiled agreeably

"Sure thing Kloppman."

The boy called jack had medium length light brown hair and a red bandana tied around his neck. Other then the bandana his clothes were very similar to those of the other newsies in the room. Kloppman left and jack turned towards royal.

"What did ya say ya name was?" his voice was rough and he had a thick New York accent.

"Ah…royal," she responded, shifting her bundle uneasily.

Noticing her burden he added, "Oh before I introduce ya; lets find you a bunk."

He whirled around the room, searching for an unoccupied bed.

"Ah… there," he said finding one in the corner, his eyes resting upon it.

Royal made her way around the boys clothing and pillows scattered about the room, finally reaching the corner. She dropped her bag on the bottom bunk, causing the mattress to surge up and down with the newly added weight. Jack watched her relieve the burden.

"So, you a newsie?"

"Oh…no…well not yet at least." Royal stumbled over her words. "Why?"

He shrugged, "I thought maybe a newsie had given you the name royal…but, I guess not."

He shrugged again and started walking in the direction of a large group of boys.

"Newsies aren't the only ones who nickname each other." She replied saucily though quickly corrected tone.

"I got royal from one of the kids at the orphanage. The older kids give you nicknames when you come in; it's their own form of rebellion I suppose."

Jack grinned toothily slowing down his pace so that they would be able to talk more before they reached the group.

"So…ah… why'd they name you royal."

Royal tugged at a strand of pearls around her neck, which had been hidden underneath her wool dress. She fingered the pearls gently before letting them hang freely about her neck once more.

"Well, when I first arrived at the orphanage all I had on me besides my clothes was a strand of pearls which I refused to take off or let anyone touch. See, usually Mrs. Muller takes away the kids possessions when they arrive to 'keep them safe' as she puts it but I wouldn't let her touch my pearls. I don't remember any of this but the older boys and girls have told me the story. So anyway…hence the name royal."

Jack nodded "that makes sense."

She tucked the pearls away once more as they approached the boys.

"Hey you guys, this here is royal. She was at the 45th street orphanage before so…um I'm sure you all will have a lot in common." He introduced her, placing his hands on her shoulders almost protectively.

A murmur of hellos set about the boys. There were about 5 of them in the group, most looking about her age though a couple looked a bit older.

Jack turned to the boy closest to him, an Italian boy with dark brown hair and eyes. He was standing up and the top of his head reached about royals nose.

"This is Racetrack," Jack turned her shoulders towards the boy so that she was facing him directly.

The boy called Racetrack picked up her hand from where it hung limply by her side and kissed it gingerly. She blushed though jack seemed to think nothing of it and moved on.

The next boy was more Royal's height and was tan with curly brown hair and brown eyes.

"This is Mush,"

Mush kissed her hand in the same manner as race had though this time royal fought off the color forming in her cheeks.

Jack went on to a blonde boy by Mush's shoulder who had a brown eye patch and a beautiful smile.

"This is kid blink," again her hand was layered with a lodging kiss.

"This is spot. Now, spots from Brooklyn so he don't stay in dis house. He's just visiting"

The boy named spot had light brown hair and blue & green eyes. He tipped his hat to royal, deciding that reaching over kid blink for her hand would be too much of a hassle.

The last boy had shaggy brown hair and brown eyes. Half of his pink long johns were visible though the other half was hidden underneath his trousers. His suspenders were pulled taut against his chest.

"And this is Skittery," the boy smiled and took her hand, kissing it for a last time.

"Hey, ah…royal." Mush called to her.

She reeled around from her position in front of Skittery so that she could see his face.

"I would recommend gettin' up couple minutes before everyone else does. Da washroom gets pretty hectic in da mornin's." his voice was gentle and sweet. She nodded with the new information and made a mental note.

"Ya know what, I think I'm gonna go tell ole' Kloppy' to wake ya up bout five minutes earlier then da rest of us." jack said, taking his hands off her shoulders and slowly jogging over to the door.

The group watched him go and royal suddenly felt vulnerable and exposed.

"Have a seat," race said in a thick New York accent, breaking the silence.

He motioned to an empty spot next to Skittery on the bunk they were surrounding. Royal sat down promptly at his command and waited for the poorly structured bed frame to become stable once more.

"So, how old are ya?" Skittery asked, turning around to face her.

"16, I'll be 17 in a week though."

He nodded though blink looked at her, confusion setting about his face.

"Don't ya need ta be 18 ta leave an orphanage?"

"Yea, this year I guess they ran out of money to support all of us; they had to let me and ten of the older guys go. I was supposed to make like I was 18 while I was out though; if the state knew what the orphanage was doing… letting us under aged kids out and all… the government would probably close down the orphanage. I'm just hoping I turn 18 before the orphanage gets more funding and starts collecting us again."

"Filthy tight wads! Probably just doin' what the refuge was doing last year… puttin' more money in their pockets then their givin' ta the kids."

Spot muttered under his breath.

A murmur of agreement echoed about the group. Kloppman stepped into the room once more followed by jack who side stepped him, heading towards the back where royal and the others were.

"You boys should probably be getting to bed don't ya think." Kloppman said firmly though his small voice only nullified his tone.

Royal watched as the younger boys jumped into their appropriate beds as they had been told.

"G'night royal," race muttered, sauntering towards the left side of the room where his bed was,

"Nice ta meet ya."

Mush and blink followed race, mush taking the bunk three beds over from race and blink taking the upper bed of race's bunk.

Jack smiled jadedly, "g'night royal, see ya tomorrow mornin'. I told Kloppman ta wake ya up a bit earlier den the rests of us."

"Thanks jack."

She watched as jack took his place on the other side of the room, hanging up his bandana next to a brown cowboy hat.

Spot had taken the empty bunk above the one they had been lounging on and had already rolled out a spare blanket.

Royal strolled over to her bunk and rolled out the blanket that was neatly folded on the end of the bed. She placed a green pinstriped pillow at the head of her cot and sat down wearily. She untied her shoes, pushing them under the bed and sat up once more to untie the brown ribbon that pulled back her thick mass of hair.

She followed Skittery with her eyes as he made his way over to her, stopping at her bunk and hanging his newsboys cap on top of one of the bedposts.

"Well, I guess we're bunk mates den?" he said chuckling as he hauled himself on to the top bunk,

"I guess so."

Royal saw the springs beneath his cot quiver as he slid his pants off revealing the other half of his long johns and hung them over the far right bedpost. He leaned his head over the side of his bunk and smiled impishly at her.

"So, are you sellin' tomorrow?"

Royal unbuttoned her wool jacket and hung it over the end of her bed neatly, leaving her in her orphanage uniform; an unflattering gray dress and brown stockings.

"Well, I haven't decided whether I will be a newsie or a maid. I suppose tomorrow I'll sell, just to have some money in my pockets."

She reached behind her back and blindly unbuttoned the dress, revealing a thin white slip. She pealed off her stockings and placed both them and the uniform on the end of the bed with her coat.

"Personally, I think you should be a newsie, maids can turn real hoity toity on you."

She giggled at his vocabulary. "Oh can they?"

Skittery grinned broadly, "yeah, so… ah if you are sellin tomorrow, ya wanna be my sellin' partner?"

Royal sat down once more on her bed,

"Yeah sure but I'm warning ya, your gonna have the teach me the ropes."

"It would be me honor!" he responded defiantly, straightening up once more and leaning back on his own cot.

Royal watched as one of the newsies by the door went around blowing out the candles on each table. The room was suddenly dark and quiet, the only sounds coming from the crackling fire a floor below. Royal sighed tiredly and laid her head back on the thin pillow.

As she laid waiting for sleep to take her she thought back to the orphanage, the crumbling walls and the cramped rooms. The damp blankets and the molded pillows. The turned up noses of the Heads, ignoring the children's cries and their ever-constant hunger. The small buzzing in all of the older children's ears, telling them they must either escape now or revolt before their childhood dries up from lack of happiness. _Thank god I got out of there_.


	2. chapter 2

Royal awoke to Kloppman's hand, pushing persistently against her shoulder. She opened her eyes, squinting slightly with morning fatigue.

"Royal…royal c'mon. I wake the boys in less then ten minutes…royal!" he gave her one final jab before letting her be.

"I'm up, I'm up."

He nodded and made his way back down stairs to his own bedroom.

Royal reached wearily for her stockings and yanked them up her legs. She slipped on her dress, buttoning it clumsily and reached under the bed for her shoes and bundle. Blindly sticking her hand inside her bag, she fumbled about, searching for her hairbrush and washcloth.

She tip toed to the washroom, once again having to dodge discarded clothes and pillows that had dropped off their respective beds during the night.

Royal stared at her reflection in the mirror of the washroom; her pale skin illuminated by her dark hair, a soft layering of freckles, dotting her nose and cheeks.

She began to brush her hair in long gentle strokes, gathering the locks that framed her face in a small half ponytail and tying them off with a ribbon. She looked contently in the mirror once more and began to wash her face.

In the other room she could hear Kloppman yelling for the newsies to wake up and start 'carryin the banner'. Soon enough the tired boys, lumbered into the washroom; some still in their long johns, some partly dressed.

"G'morning" a weary mush muttered to her as he began to wash his face in the sink beside her.

"Good morning mush," royal replied as chirpily as possible.

Mush was only wearing trousers though he had his suspenders pulled up over his bear shoulders, magnify his muscled chest.

"How is me sellin' partner today?" Skittery asked, coming up behind her and resting his elbow on her shoulder.

"Tired,"

Skittery gave a short laugh, "aw you'll get used ta it,"

"I still haven't," mush added in, rubbing his eyes jadedly.

Skittery teasingly punched mush on the shoulder and mush resumed to washing his face.

Royal waited for Skittery down stairs in the lobby of the boarding house.

She watched the newsies file out the front doors and into the streets, whooping and hollering at the new day. Never had she seen children so happy and content. These boys were under 18 and already going off to work yet they acted as if they were just going to school, like nothing had damaged their childhood.

Skittery came out wearing thin brown pants, a half buttoned white shirt with rolled up sleeves, a wool vest and suspenders. Seeing her, he quickly stepped out of the stream of newsies headed for the door and came up behind her, putting on his cap as he did so.

"Lets go."

Royal nodded and followed him out the door and into the streets of Manhattan.

The World Distribution office or the D.O. as Skittery had called it, was not open when they arrived. Many of the newsies (some of whom she had not seen at the lodging house) were lounging about, the younger ones playing with cardboard swords and the older ones leaning aimlessly against the buildings.

Skittery and royal joined the group they had been with the day before minus spot who had left for Brooklyn earlier that morning.

Kid blink pulled out a pocket watch and checked the time.

"Kloppman woke us up too early today; we gots 10 minutes 'till the office opens." He said dismayingly, kicking the dust at his feet.

"Yeah and what would a lousy ten minutes of sleep have gotten us?" race argued sarcastically, placing a half burnt cigar between his lips.

Blink leaned his head back wearily and checked his watch again. Jack turned to royal as if just noticing her presence.

"How'd ya sleep last night royal?"

"Better then I ever have," she responded truthfully.

Jack noticed the honesty in her voice and grinned, "I'm glad."

Suddenly the rusted iron doors of the distribution office slowly began to creek open, producing a sharp shriek that rang out about the square. As if the sound of the oxidized gates had reminded him, jack capriciously blurted,

"Oh! I need ta find Davie, he said he needed ta talk ta me 'bout something,'" and with that rushed off into the crowd of boys.

As royal and the others began to file into the large court like area in front of the actual office, royal noticed something; there were no other girls selling at the distribution center. She reported her findings to Skittery who nodded his head knowledgably,

"They come every so often ta sell but after a week they usually end up leavin' ta go work in da factories." He shrugged almost uncaringly before stepping into the line of newsies to get his papers.

Royal remained off to the side, not sure whether Skittery would be getting her papers or if she would be purchasing them herself.

Noticing her confusion, Skittery pulled her roughly into line with him.

Skittery did not realized just how rough his pull had been and instead of royal standing up next to him, she teetered and slowly fell back into his chest, pinning him against the brick wall of the court yard.

Royal blushed slightly before steadying herself on her own two feet and dusting off her coat. Skittery smiled weakly, also blushing a deep crimson.

As they slowly approached the office window, Skittery stepped in front of royal to show her how to buy her papers.

"We have a new one?" The man behind the bars of the office said rudely to skittery, nodding his head towards royal.

Skittery grinned sardonically at the man.

"They just keep comin' don't they." The man muttered to himself as he opened up a small writing folder. The man was quite large with graying hair and looked about fifty years old.

"50 papes Mr. weasel." Skittery said once the man had gotten situated at the counter behind the office window.

"Fifty papes!" the man called back to two tall men working behind him.

Skittery moved over to collect his papers, dropping 25 cents on the office desk. Mr. Weasel collected the change greedily and turned his attention to royal.

"Jus get 20, royal!" Skittery called to her from his position at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the office window.

Royal nodded and turned back around to Weasel.

"20 papers, please," she said to the man as politely as she could.

He nodded and shouted in back of him yet again "20 papes," He turned to her once more, "10 cents…please" he mocked.

Royal dug in to her pocket for the money, finally coming across the coins she needed. She dropped the change on the desk and proceeded to collect her papers as Skittery had done.

She walked heavily down the steps leading to the street, balancing her papers on her hip and trying to relieve the weight the papers added on her back. Noticing her pain, Skittery cocked her arm up awkwardly in the air so that the papers were now resting on her shoulder.

"Doesn't hurt as much," he explained.

She nodded contently as the pain in her lower back subsided and a dull ache commenced by her neck.

"So where do we go now?" royal asked as they left the D.O.

"Well… we could go ta central park. It's a nice day so plenty of folks will be out and about."

"That sounds good."

They changed direction, now facing north to reach the park.

Royal was familiar with the park; the orphanage took the children there once a week to exercise. Royal only hoped that she would not be meeting up with anyone she knew from there.

As they walked, Skittery taught royal how to sell and improve the headlines.

"Ok, turn ta the…" he paused flipping through the pages of one of the papers. "Page 6. _Antique shop burned down in Bronx_. Now make it sound more appealin'."

She thought for a moment before speaking up. "Old shop goes up in flames?" She answered timidly.

"That's a good start. Now add some big words, word that would make readers gasp."

She thought once more, forming a sentence in her head, "old artifacts burned in uncontrollable fire,"

Skittery grinned toothily. "That was great! But you could even have gone farther,"

He folded up the paper again and raised it high in the air. "1000$ antiques reduced to ashes in brutal inferno."

A man came up to them and handed him a penny. Skittery gave him the paper he had been holding, smiling deliberately at royal all the while.

"Stop showing off," she laughed playfully.

He shrugged and held another paper in the air, chanting a different headline that he had tweaked.

Royal stopped walking so that she could open up one of her papers and find a headline. She saw one on the 7th page that read in large font, 'pope put on feeding tube for a week'. She hesitated before, glancing around impishly and beginning to hawk her headline, improving it as she went.

"Pope in coma, doctors say he'll kick the bucket within the week!"

Her voice was small and insecure though her words attracted several men and a couple ladies. The small crowd hastily gave her a penny and took a paper before going their separate ways.

She caught up to Skittery who was several feet ahead of her, selling to an old man in a dark suit.

"Nice headline," he commented still in the process of exchanging penny for pape with the man.

"I'm just creative." She responded casually though inside she was bubbling with the warmth of his compliment.

"Next time a bit louder and less coy; it attracts more people when you gots confidence." Royal nodded her head understandingly.

After about another thirty minutes of walking they made it to the park with half their papers already sold.

"Your not doin' to bad… not to bad at all." Skittery said nodding his head.

"Why thank you" she replied almost coquettishly.

"Of course you're no Jack Kelly but… it's your first day…" His voice trailed off.

Noticing the awkwardness and tension he had just created, Skittery started talking once more about nothing in particular. Royal listened attentively to his ramblings, nodding her head every so often as he made a statement or remark. When it seemed as if he had no more blather about, he began to talk about more important subjects.

He talked about his deceased parents and how in their will they had stated that Skittery would get to choose, if anything were to ever happen to them, whether he would go into an orphanage or live on the streets and support himself. He had chosen the later of the two.

They sat on one of the stone benches, facing a small lake complete with geese and a boathouse.

Skittery continued to talk, moving on to the trouble he had recently been in with the police and his 'courtesy call' days where he would spend nights in different jails without being arrested. An opportunity to get out of the cold and to eat a meal. His life monologue finally ended with him finding the lodging house and turning around his childhood.

He chuckled slighty, removing his cap from his head and running his hands through his auburn hair.

"wow, you're a good listenah'."

Royal gave a short bark like laugh at his observation.

"no, im serious!" he said through mature laughs, placing the cap back on his head and turning even more towards her. "you don't find a lot'a newsies who would sit a whole hour listenin' to ya tell ya whole life story."

"well then im a very special newsie," she said gigling.

"you most deffinatly are!" he remarked, still chuckling though he soon blushed, realizing what he had just said. Royal blushed as well and stared down at the stack of papers in her lap.

Determined to eleitminate the awkwardness which had just been created she suddenly stood up, clutching a newspaper in her right hand and waving it over head wildly.

" terrorist attack in california leaves thousands homeless! Hundreds more dead!"

Skittery stood up beside her as 3 men rushed forward, pennys in hand.

"c'mon," he said laughing "lets go ta tibbys; we'll peddle the rest later."

She finished exchanging paper for penny with the man on her left and dumpted the change in her pocket with the other coins, buttoning it up tightly. Skittery put his free arm around her shoulder and they started off once more.


	3. chapter 3

"So, ah…what is tibbys anyway?" royal asked quizzically once they had exited the park.

"aw its nuthin' much, alittle dinner the newsies go to for lunch…sometimes supper too. Its cheap so…don't dig into yours pockets… Ya know what I mean?" she nodded only before realizing he meant it retoriclly.

"So…ah, tell me alittle bout you. I've already said everythin' there is ta know bout me."

He looked at her exspectantly, his arm still wrapped around her shoulder.

"well…my mother died In childbirth and my father died in a factory when I was 7. I was never really told how he died; all I know is that under Reason Of Death  on the police report, the police wrote Factory Mishap and left it at that. The goveremnt put me in an orphanage after that and well that's where I have been for the last 10 years." she concluded, looking up at Skittery who was about half a foot taller then her and reached an estamated height of 6 feet.

Realizing royal was done speaking he urged her to talk more, "Tell me a little about the orphanage… as I said before I ain't never been to one but I _have _always been curious."

She nodded, and contimplated for a moment, thinking about what to say and how to describe her exspiriences. Skittery waited for her to go on.

"well… it was awful, I can say that much already... Ok picture this… you have 10 girls shoved into a room built for one, I mean they were litterally 10 feet long and 5 feet wide. The bunks were up against each other and if you were lucky enough to have a bunk in the back, you had to climb over other girls bunks to get there. Some rooms though had some floor space but those rooms were on the 4th and 5th floors and the little kids usually got them. Sometimes, when the orphanage had an odd number of boys and girls in a centain age group they would put one of the boys in the girls bunk cause they didn't have the fundings to get him his own bunk with the guys." Royals voice started to rise as her passionate hate for the orphange surfased.

" and he would have to stay with the girls until another boy of that age group was brought into the orphange which could take months or years and only then would the orphanage buy another bunk. But of course nothing ever happened between the boys and the girls… oh no, the jockers would have skinned you alive if you were caught sleeping with a gi…"

Skittery interupted her. "Jockers?"

royal blushed realizing she had used a term from the orphanage.

"a jocker is a man who travels the road with an underage boy. Its orginally a word used by rail riders but I guess orphans adopted it some where down the line. Its what we called the heads and the warden, Mrs. Muller."

Skittery nodded maturly, "I see, go on…"

"if they were to catch you with a girl past hours you would be dead by morning. Though they don't mind us socializing during the day. I guess they figuered the more we talked with each other, the less we would complain to them or try to make small talk with them… Aw but the nights were horrible, it smelled so bad at night you could hardly breath. Some rare rooms had windows but the younger children usually got those."

As she finished Skittery glanced at her though kept walking, shuffling his feet on the cobble stone.

"so, ah…what did ya do all day?"

"nothin' really. We had our lessons which were dull and useless and once a week we went to central park for exsersise. See the orphange doesnt have enough money to keep up a yard of their own so all other days of the week we go on the roof for an hour of fresh air." She chuckled slightly to her self. "On the roof the older kids always used to disappear and go make out in a corner somewhere while the youger kids would try to spit on people as they passed on the street below or would sword fight with cardboard… kinda like the younger newsies do. The roof was freedom and it was the highlight of everyones day. They didn't keep any jockers posted on the roof; we always joked that the warden was just hoping that one of us would throw ourselves or fall, giving them one less kid to deal with."

Skittery didn't look amused though she was not exspecting him to.

"I ain't never goin' in an orphanage. They can do all they want to me but I'd rather die then stay there."

He stared, ahead lost in thought though at the sight of a small building, turned to her once more.

"Is dat tibbys?" royal asked pointing to the building ahead. He removed his arm from around her and adusted the small stack of papers on his shoulder.

"Yep. it doesn't look like the other guys are there yet but it don't matter, we can order ahead of them."

Royal nodded though suddenly feeling a sharp pain in her shoulder, added

"wait can we finish sellin' first, my shoulder is kinda starting to ache."

"yeah sure."

Royal began to bark one of the headline, walking towards a croud of people buying fruit from a street vendor. She finished selling her remaining 8 papers fairly quickly and slowly walked to where she and Skittery had been standing moments before. He returned to the spot as well, also free of papers.

"that was fast!" he remarked, looking at her empty hands and the small bulk of change in her coat pocket.

"yep, I had less than you though cause I only bought 20 and you bought 50." She reminded him.

He nodded, "Tomorrow you should try 30 since you seamed to have breased through 20 already… that is if you are sellin' tomorrow…" his words had mass amounts of hopefullness in them.

Royal smiled as he opened the door to tibbys for her entry,

"Of course I'll sell tomorrow, ya wanna sell with me?"

"wouldn't have it any othah' way."

Royal slid into the back booth across from Skittery. Not before long, a waiter migrated over to their table and handed them each menus, passing them out hastily before leaving to tend to another hungry table.

"So what will ya be havin' little miss?" Skittery asked mockingly.

Royal lifted her eyes off the menu and exchanged eye contact with Skittery before lowering them once more.

"Ah…what would you suggest?" she asked sincerely, flipping the cardboard sheet over to check the back.

"Me and da guys usually jus get fries and a coffee but if that doesn't do it for ya I would recommend a hamburger; plain and simple."

she chuckled at his frank tone. "Im sure fries and coffee will be just fine." She responed flirtingly.

He grinned eagarly at her before placing their orders to the nomatic waiter.

Suddenly shouts could be heard out side and a clear distict voice was yelling "talk ta me when we get in side! Not right now."

Royal looked outside the window to her left and saw that the speaker was jack and the person he was speaking to was kid blink. Jack swung open the door to tibbys grandly and royal heard skittery moan slightly in agrivation.

Jack and blink made their way to the table where skittery and royal were sitting and skittery quickly moved into the seat next to royal to make room for the new company. Blink roughly slid into the seat across from them still argueing with jack who sat next to him heavily.

A few moments later, race and mush entered, more peacefully then jack and blink had, followed by several other newsies. Race and mush each pulled a chair up to skittery and royals booth while jack and blink ordered.

"fries and a coffee..."

"ill have the same!" jack called after the waiter.

"Don't mind us; we'll be mooching off you." Race said sarcasticlly, nodding his head towards those sitting at the booth.

"You guys sold fast, how long ya been here."

"bout 10 minutes." Skittery answered calmly, finally speaking.

Soon his and royal's coffees and fries arived, followed by jack and blink's. Royal sipped her coffee slowly, listening attentivly to the argument jack and blink were having.

Mush, finally fed up with being left in the dark by the two of them, interupted their harsh battle of words, "Would ya guys mind fillin' us in!"

"Actually I think that would be a good idea!" blink said, still looking at jack though his words were direted to mush.

"See, jack here is pannin' on leavin' us for a couple of months. Just gettin' up and leavin'. Why? I don't know! He wont tell me! All he says to me is 'hey, blink… don't exspect to be seein' me around much. Im gonna be livin' in Okey for 'bout a year!" royal assumed when blink said Okey he meant oklahoma but did not bother to ask.

Race looked between blink and jack,

"jack, would ya mind?" he said more civilized though anger was still clearly visible in his tone along with confusion.

"yeah whats this jack?" skittery added in, in the same tone as race.

"I was gonna tell ya real soon. I myself only found out today when davie pulled me ovah this mornin'. You know that huge prison they got down in oklahoma… well that's where they've been holdin my old man. And… well… hes gettin' out sometime next week so… he wanted me ta come down and visit him."

The table stared at jack incredulously.

Mush finally spoke, "so that's it? Your just gonna leave. Just like that?"

jack nodded, staring down at his fries. "Well, yeah. Davie is getting' me a train ticket this afternoon. Last time I had talked to my pop, I told him ta send all me mail to the Jacobs cause Kloppman don't have no real mailing address. That's why Dave had ta talk ta me this morning. Listen you guys, this ain't a matter of…" he was interrupted by blink.

"Jack… you can't just leave! I mean… you're the leader of the Manhattan newsies! You gots your priorities in New York, wid us!"

"Well I got priorities down there too! If you want, I can get spot ta look out for ya but I would think you could take care of ya selves!"

"We don't need spot ta take care of us! And we don't need you either but you can't just leave! None of us have ever left before!" racetrack blurted out,

"So what do you want me to do!" jack yelled angrily, slamming his fists on the table and causing the cups of coffees to spill slightly.

"C'mon you guys lay off a him." Skittery said calmly, "if jack wants ta go off to Okey and see his criminal pop… he can go. Ain't none of our business."

Jack gave Skittery a grateful look.

"Fine." Race said throwing his hands up in surrender.

Mush reached across the table and took a handful of jacks fries, shaking his closed fist in front of jacks face to show him that his fries were being reduced considerably. Jack nodded mush his approval though proceeded to stare at the plate of food.

Royal took a few fries and fed them to herself, watching the group of boys intently.

Jack straightened his posture suddenly and pronounced he had to go find Dave. The group nodded and race moved his chair aside so that jack could exit the booth. Once jack had left, mush moved into the seat next to blink and race pushed away mush's discarded chair.

Skittery grasped royal's hand underneath the table so the other boys wouldn't be able to see.

"Ya wanna go?" he whispered, lowering his mouth to her ear so that only she could hear his suggestion.

She nodded and Skittery began to slide out of the booth followed by royal. The boys stared at them quizzically.

"Uh…listen we're full so… help your self"

Skittery let go of Royal's hand once they both were standing up. He pushed the half eaten plates of fries towards mush and blink. They shrugged and pulled the plates closer to them.

Skittery paid the waiter on their way out of Tibby's and opened the door for royal.

In back of her, royal could hear blink calling over a couple other newsies to share the meal they had just obtained. Once they were outside Skittery took royals hand once more.

"At least we got one thing out of that whole situation." royal said, finally breaking the silence. "I know now that we are both shy around the other boys."

Skittery turned to look at her. "I came off as shy round dem?"

"Well not shy, you just didn't say much." she offered, turning from his gaze.

He nodded, "sometimes they're jus to loud fah me. If im jus talking ta one of dem I don't hold back but when its 4of dem all talking at once... I jus dunno what ta say I guess."

"Oh I get that too," She put in reassuringly,

"I just feel like I have nothing to say and then when the group leaves…well I think 'huh, I could have said so much right there and have looked really smart to boot.' And then I kick my self for not saying it."

Skittery chuckled, swinging their entwined hands back and forth slightly with his gait.

"At foist I wouldn't have thought it but… we are a lot alike… me and you."

Royal gave him a dubious glance.

"No, no! Not in our backgrounds or our history or nuttin like that… I mean the ways we think. I always thought I wasn't cut out ta be a newsie cause I'm not all that outgoing and it always seamed like I said the wrong things at the wrong ti…"

"you mean you didn't think you were charming?" royal interrupted.

Skittery shrugged, looking down at the ground at his walked.

Royal gave a short laugh, "You need charms to get a girl don't you… and well here I am! You managed to get me."

She watched as Skittery registered what she was saying and realized her deeper meaning.

He blushed; "ya mean you were thinkin' that too…"

royal quickly lifted her head up and placed a small kiss on his cheek. He turned an even darker shade of red. He removed his hand from her grasp and placed his arm around her waist, his hand curled around her hip.

Royal had never done anything like this before. She had known Skittery for less then 24 hours and yet she was already his girl. At the orphanage she had not so much as flirted with guys though Skittery and her seemed have this connection. She hadn't been worried about how he would react to her kiss because she felt that she was on the same scale of socialism that he was on. In fact, his _lack _of allure gave her more confidence.


	4. chapter 4

Skittery watched as race taught royal how to play poker, fighting off jealousy as it approached him. He and royal still hadn't told the other newsies about the feelings they had for each other though they expected it to get out sometime.

Skittery was almost embarrassed by the fact that a relationship between royal and himself had developed so soon. It felt so spontaneous, as if they had given no real thought to the matter.

Finally, having had enough of his reflecting, Skittery stood up and approached the desk that royal was being taught at.

"Hey, race… could I borrow her for a minute?" he asked as indifferently as he could.

"Yeah sure Skits. A fast learner this one is!" race exclaimed proudly pointing to his pupil.

"I'm sure she is." Skittery agreed, motioning royal towards the door.

She followed him into the hallway, a pleasant smile upon her face.

"Hey, hows it rollin'…" she began to ask though was interrupted by Skittery's lips on her mouth. Skittery lifted his lips after a few moments.

"That was…"

"Random? Yeah I know." He said, ruffling his hair with one hand and leaning his other against the wall to his right.

She looked him up and down for a moment before pulling him into a more passionate kiss. She tugged him closer to her body by his suspenders and he puts his hands on her waist, bracing himself.

Suddenly the door to the bunkroom flung open.

"Skits are ya done chit chattin wid me student…" though race stopped abruptly as the couple came into view. Skittery pulled away from royal as he noticed racetracks presence.

"Naw…race…no it ain't…" though race didn't wait for him to explain. He turned around and quickly ran back into the room. Skittery approached the door, still hand in hand with royal.

"Hey you guys! Skits and royal hooked up." Race announced calmly though very loudly to the bunkroom.

The room erupted in murmurs and catcalls as Skittery entered the room, waving his free hand in the air; trying to calm the boys down.

"We knew it was gonna happen sooner or later." Mush called from his bunk in the corner though his voice was drowned out by the other newsies.

Royal pulled Skittery away from his attempts to quiet the boys down, "oh, what does it matter." She yelled to him over the noise of the kids.

Slowly but surely the noise began to die down as each boy continued with their previous engagements and Skittery led royal over to a large group of newsies, most of whom she was not yet acquainted with. Race noticed this as well.

"Well, I know that all dese guys already know who you are but I don't think you know who any of dem are."

Royal shook her head 'no'.

Racetrack went down the line of boys, starting with a tall, blue-eyed boy with curly brown hair.

"Dis is davie," his finger moved to the boy next to him. "les," he contined to move around the group pointing out the boys. "Pie eater, Snoddy, Itey, Bumlets, Boots, Snipeshooter, snitch, Duchy, and Specs."

Royal waved pleasantly to the group, trying to match each face with a name.

"Hey, sorry bout that you guys. It was just kinda a foist reaction." Race chuckled through the cigar that was delicately placed between his lips.

"Jack left already?" Skittery asked, trying to get away from the subject.

"uh… yeah. He's stayin at Dave's for a couple o' nights, just in case another letter comes. Da train leaves on Saturday."

"Think im gonna visit him tomorrow… ya know ta say sorry for explodin' on him like dat." Skittery said, kicking the bedpost softly with his foot.

"Nah, if any one should say sorry it should be me, blink and mush. We were being real goons in tibby's." Race said sullenly, staring unseeingly at the floor.

The door opened widely and Kloppman's head appeared in the frame,

"you kids should be getting off to bed." He announced in his small voice. "Ah… royal would you like me to wake you a bit earlier again?"Royal nodded 'yes'.

"Maybe we'll all go see him." Skittery muttered to the dispersing group.

A murmur of "Sures" was emitted from the group as they each made their way to their respective beds.

"How was your foist day as a newsie?" Skittery asked, once both he and royal were both in their nightclothes and lying down on their beds.

He leaned his head down from the top bunk, causing his hair to stand on end as gravity took its toll.

"Wonderful!" she exclaimed flirtatiously.

"I'm glad" He smiled before putting his head back on his pillows.

"G'night royal." He called from the top bunk.

"G'night skits."

She rolled over on her side as one of the newsies blew out all the lamps leaving the room pitch black with the exception of the light from the street lamps, streaming in through the cracks in the walls.


	5. chapter 5

Two weeks later

"Quick! Blink spot me 5 bits I think I got him this time!"

Blink threw royal the coins, glancing down at her cards as he did so.

"How long you guys gonna keep this up?" mush complained from behind racetrack, her opponent. "You've been playin' dis _one_ game for bout an hour!"

Race turned around in his chair and slapped mush lightly in the face, telling him to be quiet.

Royal stole a quick glance across the bunkroom to where Skittery was talking with pie eater and boots. Noticing her gaze he winked at her before going back into his conversation.

_Oh how great life has been,_ she thought pleasantly to her self, leaning back in her wooden chair. She smiled to her self and propped her feet up on the desk on which they were playing their poker game.

"What kinda poker face is that!" race called out sarcastically, pointing his cigar at her smiled tainted face.

She shrugged and made an attempt to wipe off her grin though it reappeared moments later.

"Full house." Race stated loudly after a few minutes of card exchanging.

She stared down at his hand disbelievingly.

"I'll get you next time Higgins!" she muttered melodramatically as she watched him collect the money from the middle of the desk.

"You owe me 5 bits." Blink reminded her once race had sorted through the coins and put the bulk in his pockets.

"Yeah, yeah. Remind me tomorrow."

Royal made her way over to where Skittery was standing and subtly wrapped her arms around his waist from behind him, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"I lost." She mumbled to the boys.

Boots pointed his finger at her and started to laugh, mockingly. She glared falsely at him before going on.

"I guess I'll just have ta sell double tomorrow." She sighed.

"I'll help. Made a fortune today from some old man who couldn't tell what change he was givin' me. Handed me a half dollar instead of a penny so…"

"And you didn't have da heart ta tell him he was paying for 50 papes instead of one." Pie eater interrupted chuckling.

Skittery shrugged, "figured it was his problem not mine." Pie eater gave another short laugh.

"If you insist on helping me… I suppose you can help me." Royal teased, going back to the subject of his offer.

As the boys started talking once more, royal gazed out the partially opened window and into the dimly lit afternoon sky.

"C'mon." she whispered in Skittery's ear, letting go of his waist and taking a hold of his hand, leading him to the fire escape.

Skittery shrugged helplessly at the other boys as he and royal disappeared out the window.

"What ever." Royal heard boots mumble from inside the lodging house.

They climbed up one floor to the third floor of the 4-story building so that none of the other boys would be able to see them.

Once they were seated, Skittery pulled royal into a lengthy kiss, wrapping his arms around her torso. They each pulled away simultaneously. He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, grinning roguishly. Their noses were inches apart, making another kiss very accessible.

"God! We're pathetic," royal pronounced once the kiss had ended, "goin' out on da fire escape just ta see each othah'"

"we're doin' alittle more then jus seein' each othah."

"You know what I mean." She pushed him away playfully.

"What? Is that all you got?" he asked provokingly, bracing himself against the wall of the building. "I've always thought there was a lot more muscle stored up in dat body o' yours. I mean… you make out pretty vigorously."

At this comment royal tugged at his suspenders, pulling him into another kiss.

"Lets go for a walk, eh?"

She nodded a 'yes' to his proposal. "Aren't ya gonna be cold?" royal asked, looking at his visible pink long johns, thin wool pants and lack of coat or shirt.

He shrugged, "nah, I'll be fine. Its almost April anyway."

She glanced around the darkening city and at the bare branches of a nearby tree. He noticed her doubt and added,

"Don't worry! I'll be fine."

She smiled weakly. "If you say so…" "I do."

He looped arms with her as they made their descent down the fire escape and stuck his free hand in his pants pocket.

"So, where did ya plan on takin' me?" Royal asked once they were down stairs and on the streets of Manhattan.

"I dunno. I thought we could jus follow our feets I guess." He suggested.

"Do you think our feet would take us to central park?"

"Mine are already headed that way."

He turned abruptly towards the park and started walking in that direction. She leaned her head against his shoulder and he placed a small kiss atop her dark brown hair.

Once in the park, the couple made their way to the bench they had been sitting at two weeks before on royals first day.

Skittery sat down heavily on it and closed his eyes, stretching his legs out in front of him and leaning his head back in exhaustion. Royal sat down next to him and patted her lap, urging him to lay his weary head on her thighs. He accepted her offer, turning his body so that it stretched across the length of the bench and his long legs dangled over the far end.

She pushed his disheveled hair out of his face and smiled down at him. He beamed, crossing his arms serenely across his chest and closing his eyes once more.

Royal took her eyes off her lover and looked about the small lake in front of them, studying its beauty with awe. Ducks had begun to migrate north once more and a couple couples had taken a late afternoon boat ride on the lake, making the lake an even more romantic place to be.


	6. chapter 6

A few blocks away from the lodging house

Royal held Skittery's hand lovingly, unknowingly swinging it back and forth with her steps.

The sky had darkened considerably since they had left the lodging house two hours ago and royal soon realized that the only light guiding them was coming from the evenly spaced streetlamps on every corner.

Skittery looked at her, a small smile spread across his face.

"What?" she asked flirtatiously, turning to look at him though her pace remained the same.

He shrugged and looked ahead once more, every so often stealing a quick glance at her.

As they approached the lodging house, royal saw a carriage with the familiar logo "**45th**", parked out front. Her immediate thought was to run though as the tall, gaunt figure of Mrs. Muller stepped out of the passengers seat of the coach, she realized she could not move what so ever.

"Romana Canely!" Her shrill voice seeped into the darkness. "Go get your things, your leaving."

Skittery's eyes wandered from the woman to royal. He looked his lover up and down as if hearing her true name had literally changed the person standing next to him.

"Already? But I thought you said it could take…"

"The state has decided to give us twice as much funding as before… now run upstairs and get your things." Mrs. Muller interrupted her hurriedly, pointing her finger towards the lodging house.

"You must be kiddin' me!" Skittery said suddenly. Mrs. Muller turned to him, closing her eyes for a moment frustratingly. "I mean… she jus got used to it here! You… you cant just pick 'er up again!"

The woman's eyes flickered with anger and her face became red with aggravation.

"And who might you be."

Skittery blushed, realizing how much attention he had just averted to himself.

"Skittery." He muttered under his breath, looking down before raising his line of vision once more.

"And is there a reason you are so hot on the subject of Ms. Canely's placement?"

By now Skittery's hand was no longer within royal's grasp though royal suddenly felt the urge to hold it once more.

"Because it's not fair what you do! You send kids out, let 'em live fa' once and den when they have found their niche, you drag em back in ta slavery again!" Skittery's voice was loud and vociferous. He went on

"And why do ya want her back at da orphanage anyway? If anything, I would think dat royal stayin' here would only help ya _financial_ _situation_… one less kid right… and even if she did tattle on ya little money blunda', who in there right mind would believe a 17 year old newsie! No one ever has!"

Under the street lamp, royal could see Mrs. Muller's cheek muscles switch at Skittery's words. Skittery must have realized what he had just said as well for he took a step backwards, running his hands vigorously through his hair in frustration towards himself.

Suddenly the door to the lodging house swung open, disturbing the silence that had set about the street. Mush stepped forth from its frame, calling for Skittery and royal as he did so. Mrs. Muller turned her head towards mush though her body remained facing the two kids.

"Would you mind running up and getting Ms. Canely and this young mans belongings?" she asked mush rhetorically though ended up receiving an answer.

"Hey… what's this all about? Skits? What's goin' on?" Mush glanced hastily between the woman and his friends.

The woman turned her head back around, clenching her fists in a very un-lady like manner.

"Please… go up and get their things!" her voice was firm and demanding.

Mush, backed up in to the doorway, still very confused. "Skits? What…what's happening?"

Royal felt a single tear, tearing away from her eye lashes and slowly making its way down her cheek, leaving a trail of dew where it strolled.

She looked down at the cobblestones, kicking the dust at her feet and trying desperately not to look at Skittery's expression, convinced it would be completely blank as it had been the day jack had announced his departure.

Mush, taking one last glance at Skittery, stumbled back into the lobby of the lodging house, letting the door slam behind him. From the street they could hear him shouting for Kloppman, his voice losing its mature pitch and gaining a weak, juvenile tone.

Mrs. Muller leaned her head back daintily, massaging her neck wearily.

"In the carriage." She commanded, finally straitening her back once more.

She pointed towards the back of the coach and stood motionless on the street while Skittery and royal filed helplessly into the back of the carriage, taking their seats on the two black benches, patruding from either wall.


	7. chapter 7

The door slammed shut behind them and royal and Skittery were left in the dark of the carriage, the only light coming from a small window cut out of the door.

The coach started moving once more with a jolt and the sound of horse's hooves could be heard on the cobblestones.

Royal sat across from Skittery, her eyes on the wooden floorboards of the coach, her hands in her lap. She finally looked up.

As she had expected, Skittery's face was completely barren of any expression what so ever. He molded his hands in his lap, pushing hard on his knuckles and wringing out his fingers.

"Skittery?" her voice was meek and feeble.

At her words he painfully averted his eyes from the floor and looked her over carefully, his expression remaining indifferent.

"What?"

"Why didn't you run?"

"What do you mean?" he said in an apathetic tone.

"Ya could 'ave run… Mrs. Muller wouldn't 'ave been able ta catch up with ya…"

Royal's eyes were on Skittery, waiting for him to show some sign of life. He glanced down at the floor once more, not wanting to answer her question. Royal reached out her arm and touched Skittery's hand warmly.

Suddenly, he began to bang his head deliberately on the wall behind him, muttering angrily to himself.

" I ain't supposed ta be here! Its in me folks fuckin' will! I ain't supposed to go there!"

His voice grew louder and royal pulled her hand away, watching skittery attentivly. His head banging became slower though it continued as he spoke.

"Dey cant take me! I signed the fuckin' papers! We went though dis shit years ago and i… signed… the…papers!" With this last sentense, he banged his head at every word, closing his eyes and ignoring the pain he was creating for himself.

He began to whimper softly and sunk down against the wall untill he was sitting on the floor, his legs raised up against his chest.

Royal sat down next to him, a rush of guilt and fear spreading through her body as she watched Skittery mentally brake down by her side.

In a finally sob he lay his head roughly on her shoulder, spreading out his legs so that they were no longer agianst his chest but stretching underneath the bench royal had been sitting on moments before. She put her hand comfortingly on his thigh and watched as he tried to regain his manly hood.

"Lets jus try to make the best of this… at least we'll be together… and who knows… it could be fun…" her voice trailed off.

"How the hell could this be fun?" he looked at her in anticipation.

"We could give _them_ hell?"

She watched Skittery's expression closely, waiting for the words to sink in.

"I mean… dey cant kick us out can dey? And if dey do…well… that's what we want ain't it?"

Skittery chuckled softly as he realized what she was saying, his face becoming a bit friendlier.

"What kinda hell?"

She signed, racking her brain for an example.

"I dunno, jam the teachers doors, take control of da classes, burn da jockers food… just pranks at foist."

Skittery turned to her, grinning broadly.

Royal was delighted to see his sudden change in mood and hoped her proposal had invoked some motivation to live in their new environment.

"At foist?"

"Yeah… maybe we'll try worse stuff later on."

She shrugged carelessly and watched as an even wider smile crept over Skittery's face, his coffee colored eyes glinting with mischief.

"Yeah… make 'em wish dey nevah took you back."

"And took you in!" royal added on, now also excited by her plan.

She had been improvising at first, trying desperately to improve Skittery's mood in any way she could though now that she had fleshed out her devious scheme, it was appealing to her as well.

Skittery leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek. Royal found his hand and held it loosely on the floor between them.

"I'm sorry you got dragged in ta all dis." She said softly, looking down at their joined hands.

He shrugged fighting back a listless expression.

"I don't blame ya." Royal looked at him doubtfully, waiting for him to go on. "Besides… we are both seventeen. When we're 18 they cant keep us no more… so… it's really only12 months of dis torture."

He stopped speaking for a moment and stared at the wall fixedly, his brow furrowed, rolling the words 'twelve months' around in his mouth, as if trying to make it sound more appealing. His muttering ceased and he went on,

"and like you said… it could be fun…" his words lingered in the air.

He turned his head once more towards royal, smiling painfully at her. Royal smiled feebly back at him though her eyes cast a shadow of worry upon the rest of her face. Skittery did not notice her tainted facade.

He turned his body towards her, brushing one of her curls away from her face though it only slid back unto her eyes once more. She tucked it behind her ear properly, her phony smile turning into a warm grin.

All of a sudden the carriage came to a halt and Skittery turned back around so that he was facing the wall, his expression becoming indifferent once more as if the shift in the outside world had reminded him of reality.


	8. chapter 8

The doors to the coach swung open and a man holding a folded umbrella, who royal identified as the English teacher, stepped forth, grabbing both Skittery and her by the collar.

With his hand still grasping them, the two kids climbed out of the car, stumbling on to the street. The man pushed them in front of him so that he could watch their moves and the three of them slowly made their way to the orphanage.

Immediately upon exiting the carriage, royal realized that they were about three blocks away from the orphanage and an avenue down.

The night air was chilling and a small breeze ruffled her skirts. She turned around to look at the man guiding them. He seemed not to have recognized her and royal did not blame him. There were over 300 children in the orphanage school and every year the teachers seemed to stress more and more over even remembering the faces of their pupils. On his hip, he balanced a pile of knickknacks and clothing some of which royal knew was her own.

They reached orphanage with in minutes and she paused slightly to take in the sight of the gigantic building looming before her.

The building was old and made of brown bricks with three visible windows on each floor. A three-step stoop led up to the entrance of the building and next to it sat an unlocked grate, leading down to the cellar. She had been told once before that this grate was used for deliveries and packages. The English teacher probed her in the back with his umbrella, urging her to move forward once more.

They walked up the steps to the front door and the man stepped in front of them, opening it for their entry.

The lobby of the orphanage was not warm and friendly like the lobby of the lodging house. It was gray and bleak with a couple of hard wicker chairs in each corner, hallways venturing in all directions and a stairway leading up to the next floor in the center.

Skittery looked around at the lack of furniture and life for that matter. He looked back to royal shrugging as if to say he had seen worse.

The man closed the door behind them and put his still folded umbrella in a tall umbrella vase in the corner. He walked back to them, his steps consistent.

Now that royal was in a dull light she could make out the teacher's clothing and apparel. His dress was not one of a rich man but of a man who thought him self-stylish for that day and age.

He took off his coat, draping it over one arm and ordering royal to do the same. She shrugged off her outer layer and Skittery offered to hold it for her. The man looked at them impatiently as royal handed her coat to Skittery, thanking him kindly.

The man glanced at a large clock near the back of the room and both Skittery and royal followed his gaze; the clock read 12:47pm. The man nodded as he digested the information, looking back at the two kids.

"You two may go to sleep, Mrs. Muller will talk to you tomorrow morning for it is too late now. Ms. Canely, please take yourself and the boy up to bunkroom 14. I'm most definitely sure that there are two spare cots up there. Your permanent beds will be given to you tomorrow morning as well. Here are your things." He stuffed the pile of clothing and objects in to Skittery's hands.

The man turned to leave though deciding better, faced them once more.

"I suppose you don't _have_ to get up at wakeup call, it is late after all. Mrs. Muller will be expecting you at 8:30am though so make good choices." He turned around promptly, and made his way down the hallway to their right.

"Make good choices!" Skittery blurted out mockingly once the man had disappeared from view.

Royal fell into a fit of giggle, though collected her self eventually and led Skittery upstairs by the hand.

Over all, his mood seemed to have improved though royal could see some false humor in his statement. She sincerely hoped he was not putting on an act for her to make her feel less guilty about the whole situation.

As they entered bunk 14 on the 4th floor, royal felt a rush of tranquility created by the sight of sleeping girls and boys.

Bunkroom 14 was a toddler's bunk so it was co-ed and was usually the waiting room for older boys and girls as they waited for their sleeping arrangements as she and Skittery were doing.

They found two spare cots pressed against the wall and dragged both of them over to the center of the bunkroom, squeezing the cots between actual bunks. The cots, when pushed together, formed a medium size bed. The mattresses soaked up the little extra space there was in the bunkroom and royal desperately hoped that she would not get stepped on by a subconscious kid come morning.

Royal searched about the small room for extra blankets and two pillows, finally finding them atop a shelf in one of the three closets in the room.

Once she had spread out the blankets, layering them one on top of the other and placed the pillows side by side at the end of the double bed, royal showed Skittery to the men's washroom on that floor before going to the ladies in the opposite direction.

The last 3 hours had been surreal to royal, almost like she was viewing a film about her self. Everything seamed to be in the third person and she acted more then thought. In all it felt like she was in the twilight zone.

She washed up, letting down her brunette hair and scowling at her reflection in the mirror. She was not displeased with the way she looked, only with the actions she had taken that night. If anything were to happen to Skittery during his stay at the orphanage, she would never be able to live with herself.

_If only I hadn't been so desperate to make friends,_ she thought to her self, _I'm sure Skittery and I would still be as close as we are now if I had never told him about the orphanage and its lies. I am pathetic. If I hadn't told him any of this he would still have a life. _

She sighed sullenly and began to strip down to her night slip, assuring herself that she would only have to sleep in the wretched thing until tomorrow when the orphanage would give her a night uniform. She adjusted the slip hastily and gathered her clothes up in a pile.

Royal exited the bathroom at an acute angle heading directly towards the bunkroom.

Skittery was waiting for her in the bed, wearing his legendary pink long johns as usual.

"Aw skits, I'm really, really sorry bout all this. I should have never blabbed about the orphanage to you and the other guys. Now you have ta rot in here as well"

He quieted her by placing a kiss on her lips.

"I would'a rotted away if I had stayed and let you go. Its better like this… when we're together."

She smiled; slipping her legs beneath the covers and watching Skittery do the same.

"Nothin's gonna happen, right?" she asked mischievously once they were comfortably laying in bed, side by side.

Skittery turned to her, resting his head on his hand.

"You mean while we're in bed together… nah… not if you don't want anything to happen."

She smiled once more and placed a kiss of gratitude on his cheek. "Not yet I don't."

He nodded understandably,

"Neither do I."

"Right…" she responded sarcastically.

"How do you know?" he playfully hit her with his pillow before sinking down into its comfort once more.

"Wake me when you wake up tomorrow, ok?" He nodded.

"G'night royal." He sat up slightly to kiss her on her forehead.

"G'night skits." She breathed out, turning on to her other side and slowly drifting off into a fitful sleep.

Her sleeps were always fitful at the orphanage.


	9. chapter 9

Royal awoke to a small hand shaking her shoulder. She batted the hand away tiredly, her face still shoved into the pillow. The hand shook her once more and when royal didn't respond, a tiny foot began to kick her roughly.

"Wake up! It's the bell. The jockers are gonna kill you if you are late."

Royal smiled to herself at the little one's familiar vocabulary. She turned on to her back and stared into the wide eyes of a small boy who must have just woken for his hair was sticking up on end.

"We got an hour ta float, kid." She mumbled to the boy, pulling the blanket up to her eyes, blocking out the sunlight that was flowing into the room from a small window.

He looked at her confused and royal decide to rephrase.

"We just got here, we don't gotta be up till 8:30, now shove off alright?"

The boy nodded and scurried off, without having taken any offense to her rude comment.

She rolled back to her stomach, burying her head in the soft pillow and waiting for sleep to over come her once more.

Royal woke about an hour later though this time by Skittery. He was still under the blankets, nudging her with his elbow and muttering under his breath that they should probably start getting up.

Royal dragged herself off the cot and slowly stood up from the floor, gathering her clothes into a pile and heading towards the washroom.

The rest of the children were down stairs having breakfast or already off to their lessons so royal assumed the stalls would be empty. It would not make a difference if they weren't. No one on this floor would know her. Now that she thought of it, most kids in the orphanage didn't know her. After all she did not talk to people unless they talked to her first.

Skittery followed her out of the room, walking in the opposite direction once they got into the hall. His hair was disheveled and the first 4 buttons of his long johns had come undone during the night, revealing a portion of his muscled chest. He carried his clothes on his shoulder as if they were his papes and once more royal was over come with guilt.

She took refuge in one of the stalls, carelessly slipping on her dress and pulling up her thick stockings. She finished tying up her last boot and stumbled out of the small stall. She brushed her hair and tied in a half ponytail as usual, her hands slipping clumsily as she tied off the bow.

Skittery was waiting for her outside, leaning against the wall and lazily fiddling with the straps of his suspenders.

They started to descend the narrow stairs going down to the first floor, in silence. Skittery finally spoke,

"so… ah when do ya want ta start our rebellions?" he asked, smirking.

He seemed to have more energy today, probably because of the extra two hours of sleep. Kloppman usually woke them up at 5 every morning so that they would have time for a quick breakfast.

She shrugged, "when were you thinkin'?"

He shrugged as well. "Maybe at da end of dis week… ya know… give em sometime ta act real bad ta us… so when we do knock em out," he punched the wall of the stairwell in a demonstration, "dey can regret ever bein bitchy ta us… ya know… to give us some evidence ta support our case."

He waited for her approval.

"That sounds good." She nodded, in agreement.

They reached the first floor of the building and Skittery looked around puzzled as to which way to go. Royal turned him towards the corridor behind the staircase and mostly hidden from view. It looked exactly the same as the other two halls though its positioning made it very awkward.

They strolled down the corridor, Skittery checking his pocket watch as he did so.

"We still gots a couple minutes." He reported to her.

"Yeah, but we gotta tell the secretary we're here or else Mrs. Muller will think we're late."

He looked at her in bewilderment, waiting for her to explain.

"Mrs. Muller…well she gets mad when your late… so just to be on the safe side…" her voice trailed off as they approached the door marked office.

Skittery opened it kindly for royal and she stepped inside, thanking his as she did so.

The office was quite large with one great window displaying an unattractive alleyway on the left. Skittery looked about the room as royal talked with the secretary; an uptight woman in her 30s. The room contained one desk and about 10 chairs, all neatly lined up to the right of a large oak door that read Muller.

The woman at the desk motioned for Skittery and royal to sit in two of the 10 chairs, some of which were already occupied with kids.

The kids looked to be about their age though royal associated with none of them. She thought about how unsocial she must seem to Skittery though corrected herself before she could finish her thoughts; she _was_ unsocial. Skittery didn't seem to notice anyway so what did it matter.

Skittery reached over royal and took a newspaper out of a bookrack to her left. He leafed through it, finally letting the pages rest on a bold article.

"Hmm… Brooklyn thieves strike again. I'm sure spots having fun with that." he chuckled almost to himself.

"If he isn't one of them," royal added in humorously.

Skittery looked the article up and down once more, glancing at royal, before looking back down at the article.

"What?" she asked hollowly.

"Large mob of thieves take Brooklyn by surprise in another attempt to drain borough of all wealth." His voice was calm and cooled while his headline was so outrageous, royal had to muffle a loud laugh.

He went on to the next article on the opposite page that read _wife found guilty of brutally killing husband after nasty fight_. He paused for a moment before creating his own headline,

"Wife convicted of massacring abusive husband after viciously raping him."

Royal let out a snort like giggle and placed her hands over mouth to stifle the noise she was creating. Skittery chuckled to himself as well. The secretary glared at them from behind her paper work. Skittery waved pleasantly at the irritated woman, making royal fall in to another fit of giggles. The woman looked down at her work once more, clucking her tongue disapprovingly.

Just then the door opened and a boy, who looked to be about 15 stepped out of Mrs. Muller's room, muttering angrily under his breath. He gestured for Skittery and royal to go in before sharply leaving the room, slamming the door behind him. Royal watched him go before getting up to enter the room.


	10. chapter 10

Mrs. Muller sat behind a large desk that took up most of the room, its surface cluttered with papers and writing tools. Several file cabinets had been squeezed into the tiny space, and two whicker chairs sat in front of the desk.

Mrs. Muller motioned for them to sit down before attempting to organize the papers into neat files. She looked up at them finally.

"As you know we have a very…special… yes special situation here. Mr.…" she looked down at a file that was spread about her desk. "Mr. Cooger. We have your general file. Unfortunately, your specific's are still in Kansas and inaccessible. So…"

The woman propped her thick rimmed glasses farther up the ridge of her nose, preparing to read.

"Name: Hunter Cooger. Date of birth: June 6th, 1883. Place of birth: Wichita, Kansas. Parents: deceased. History of stealing and taking one night stays in jail. Relatives: unknown."

She looked up from the papers, ogling Skittery through her spectacles.

"It seams to me like you were supposed to be in an orphanage anyway."

Royal turned to Skittery and put her hand comfortingly on his thigh. Mrs. Muller eyed them before going on.

"Mr. Cooger, both you and ms. Canely will be bunkroom 21..."

"Just in case you haven't been cheap enough around me?" Skittery interrupted, looking at her coolly from in front of her desk.

She ignored his comment.

"Mr. Cooger you will have bunk J and Ms. Canely you will have bunk C. Underneath each of your beds are sets of day clothes and night clothes laid out for you. The laundry baskets are set up in the washrooms but please do wear an outfit twice before washing it. Here are your school schedules. Ms. Canely you will find your new schedule is very similar to your old one. Mr. Cooger… you will need to tell us you're major so that we can fill in the rest of your agenda."

She handed both of them their separate schedules and waited for Skittery to give her an answer.

"English I guess."

She nodded and made not of his reply on a white legal pad.

"I believe that English is Ms. Canely's major as well so you too will be together in that class. Here are your school bags inside are pencils and note books."

She handed the two canvas messenger bags.

"As you go about to all your classes, just ask your teachers for text books and such… things you will be needing for their class, you know. I'm sure they will be glad to oblige. Mr. Cooger, your weekday schedule goes like this… you wake up at 7:30 at the rising bell, breakfast is at 7:45, your classes begin at 8:00, each class is 30 minutes long. Dinner is at 11:00 and then you have an hour recall or a recess you could call it. During recess you will be led up to the roof where you may run around and do as you please. After recess you have classes until 5:00 and then supper at 6:00. During the hour between supper and classes you must find your own way to entertain yourself and showers are available at that time as well. Then after supper, which tends to end around 6:40, the older kids are assigned to clean and tighty up the first 3 floors of the building while the younger children must clean the 4th and 5th floors. Each day, 20 children are picked at random to do laundry. The list of these laundry cleaners is posted everyday in the lobby and can be viewable before and after meals. These activities are absolutely mandatory and attendance will be taken before and after. Attendance is also taken in each class so do, not under any circumstances be late. Lights go out at 9:00.

"On week ends, each age group is taken to the park for 4 hours (state regulations) and you are aloud to play there as you would on the roof though under the supervision of one of the Heads or Teachers. When you are not in the park, there is bunk inspection, which you must be present for. On week ends wake up is an hour later and so is lights out, a little freedom for you I suppose."

Skittery nodded as he digested this information.

"Here are a list of rules and regulation… I do believe that comment you made before is rule 13."

She handed him the sheet and also passed one over to royal.

"Just in case you forgot during your vacation." She said assuring.

Royal gave her a cynical face though Mrs. Muller seemed to not have seen it.

"Breaking the rules is not acceptable and has its punishments. Breaking a rule can result in the missing of main meals, being banned from the roof… these activities are privileges after all. For multiple or large rule breaking, we usually assign the child to clean a whole floor by himself or with his/her accomplice. We can be very creative when it come to punishments so… be warned.

"Ms. Canely, I'm expecting you to show Mr. Cooger around and too all his classes. I will give you a late pass for your own classes so that you wont be marked late. The pass will expire within the week though so make sure he knows his way around by then."

Royal sighed and reached forward to take the pass from the woman's outstretched hand. She stuffed it in her pocket carelessly.

Mrs. Muller turned to address Skittery once more.

"Mr. Cooger, come with me so that you can get your uniform and I talk to you in privet about your 'special situation.' Ms. Canely, please take Mr. Cooger's papers and book bag and for him and wait for us out side my office… Oh yes and please pretend that you are a new student as well, it's just a less complicated excuse for your absence. Mr. Cooger, follow me."

Mrs. Muller motioned towards a door royal had not noticed before in the corner though she assumed it led into Mrs. Muller's privet room.

Mrs. Muller collected the papers on her desk and was preparing to leave though stopped suddenly and spoke to royal once more.

"And do put your hair in braids. You look like trash."

Royal took the insult lightly for it _was_ part of the girl's uniform to wear your hair in braids; an act that took away the remainder of one's individualism.

Mrs. Muller and Skittery finally left and royal gathered her and Skittery's papers in to a neat pile, grasping the straps to their bags with her free hand.


	11. chapter 11

Out side Mrs. Muller office she compared she and Skittery's schedules.

They both had English together and math, on Tuesdays, together as well. They had two free periods together and history and C.S. (collaborative study's) together on Mondays and Fridays. They had a few more classes together besides those few but other wise their schedules were completely different.

Royal checked the clock in the corner; 10:23, classes would be switching in 7 minutes.

She looked down at her and Skittery's schedules once more; Skittery had algebra next and royal had literature. Literature was a push over class when you did your homework though she didn't know what algebra was like for she had never taken it before; every year the orphanage had stuck her with trigonometry for her secondary math class.

Not before long, a loud bell struck in the corridor and the patter of shoes could be heard outside the main office as classes switched and kids rushed off to their next lesson.

Royal sighed. She really didn't want to be late to her first class. The embarrassment of having to walk in during the middle of a period would just be too much for her.

She desperately hoped that Mrs. Muller would talk for a long time with Skittery, so long that it would be lunch by the time they were done. Maybe if she and Skittery walked really slowly to their classes, the bell would ring before they could even get inside the room.

She sighed once more.

Suddenly she heard Mrs. Muller on the other side of her office door, speaking loudly to Skittery.

Royal remembered that she hadn't tied up her hair as Mrs. Muller had told her to and quickly pulled out the ribbon currently keeping her hair up, ripped it in half and clumsily tied her hair into two braids.

The door opened and Skittery and Mrs. Muller stepped out, Mrs. Muller still addressing Skittery in a quieter voice.

Skittery's hair had been trimmed to the appropriate boys length and he was wearing a boy's uniform composed of brown wool trousers, a gray button down shirt and a brown, wool vest that matched his pants. Royal could see the metal clasps of his suspenders emerging from their hiding place underneath his vest.

Royal sat up abruptly as they entered and waited for Mrs. Muller to dismiss them.

"Ms. Canely, show Mr. Cooger to his class and then please go to your own. Use your late pass that I gave you if the teacher asks about your tardy. No dilly-dallying in the hallways."

Skittery snorted with laughter at her vocabulary word though Mrs. Muller pretended not to notice his amusement.

Once out side, Skittery swung his school bag over is shoulder and grasped Royal's hand.

"I like the braids." He said sarcastically, reaching over with his right hand and flicking one of her braids back and forth with his thumb and forefinger.

"I like the uniform." She retorted, reaching over and ruffling his hair. Skittery pushed her hand away playfully.

They began to walk down the long corridor, heading towards the lobby.

"What did she talk to ya about?" royal looked up at Skittery expectantly.

"Jus how I cant let stuff out ta no one… shit like that. Most of the older bunks already know about her forgings but she told me that should still keep it a bit hush hush… on the down low, ya know. Then she just went over the rules and stated like a million times that 'there is no tolerance for delinquents what so ever at the 45th street orphanage'" he mocked Mrs. Muller's curt voice.

He rolled up his sleeves as they ascended the stairs, hoping them two at a time and then waiting for royal at the landings between the floors.

"I though Mrs. Muller said all classes are down stairs."

"They are." Royal agreed, smiling pleasantly.

Skittery grinned, waiting for her on the 4th floor landing.

"How late are we gonna be?"

"Only a few minutes" she shrugged, abruptly turning around and starting to walk down the stairs once more.

Skittery jumped down a flight of stairs to catch up with her.

"You don't mind, do you?"

Skittery stopped walking and gave her a sarcastic look.

"Do you really think I would mind? I haven't been to school since I was ten!"

He started walking once more, shifting his limp school bag to his other shoulder. She took his hand and squeezed it tightly though not in a comforting manner. He looked up at her, smiling flirtatiously and placed a kiss on her lips. His hand migrated to her waist and she snuggled up against his shoulder, trying to ignore the scent of vinegar on his new uniform.

They reached the first floor once more and royal directed Skittery to his algebra class, telling him to wait for her outside the room when the period was over. She gave him a short kiss good-bye before hurrying off to her own class, further down the hall.


	12. chapter 12

Skittery's point of view

The class looked up from their studies as Skittery entered the room, their eyes bearing down on him in apathy.

He smiled weakly at them before turning towards the teacher, hands shaking slightly with nerves in his back pockets.

"May I help you?" a young woman asked from behind a desk, looking him over in disapproval.

"Ah…yeah… I'm new. My schedule says I have algebra now." He held up his schedule for the teacher to see and moved closer to her desk.

The woman seemed to withdraw from his proceedings, turning up her nose snobbishly.

_Oh,_ _what dignity does she have? She teachin' a bunch of fuckin orphans in some shit ass school. _Skittery thought crudely, fighting off a scowl as he observed the woman. She had long blonde hair that was pulled up in a bun and chubby cheeks, slathered with makeup and blush.

The woman stood up, towering a mere two inches over Skittery.

He slumped down in his posture, now a bit intimidated.

"I see. What is your name?"

"Ah…skittery"

He didn't think about his answer but the look on the teachers face told him it was the wrong one. She glared slightly at him.

"I do not care for your funny names. Your _real_ name. The one your parents gave you before they deserted you on this wretched earth and began to burn in hell."

Some of the children in the room cringed at her words though Skittery did not seam to be affected by them.

He planted a smug expression upon his face and a slight smirk on his lips, a manner that only made the teacher glare at him harder.

"Hunter Cooger." He responded, looking straight in to the teacher's eyes.

She smiled falsely. "Please take a seat hunter. There should be a spare text book in your desk."

She turned briskly and walked over to a large chalkboard, beginning to scribble equations on the board.

Skittery sat down in the 4th row by the window and felt around in the desk for a book. He came across one and pulled it out of the desk hastily feeling the teacher's eyes upon him.

"Open your books to page 342." The teacher barked at the class.

Skittery quickly flipped to the page she had requested and took an empty notebook from his book bag, opening it to a clean first page.

Skittery glanced at the problems in front of him and realized just how little he knew about math.

' Problem A: (X23) Y-41,228. If X12 then Y? Solve for Y.'

Skittery took in a deep breath, reading the rest of the problems over in his head. He barely could multiply single digit numbers! How was he going to multiply 12 by 23!

His thoughts were interrupted by the shrill voice of the teacher.

"Hunter! What is the answer to problem A?"

Skittery glanced down at the book nervously, his hands sweating in his lap.

"Uh… I dunno… I've nevah done dis kinda math before."

The teacher smiled at him menacingly. "Then I would recommend you visit me after supper so we can go over this 'kinda math'"

Behind him, Skittery heard a few of his classmates snicker at his loss of free time. Skittery nodded, his eyes on the teacher.

He forced an uninterested expression upon his face to show that he could not be swayed from his arrogance though inside he had collapsed with his defeat.

"Amelia, can _you_ answer A for us?"

The teacher turned to a girl who had light brown hair that had been untied from its braids, creating small waves and curls.

The girl flushed as the class's attention was soon focused on her.

"Uh… I can try…"

The girl straitened her posture and began to read out her procedures to the class in a meek voice.

"Well… you have to use order of operations…so you do X23 first because it's in the parenthesis. And you know X12 so that's 12x23176. So then the equation is 176xY-41,228. So then you reverse the equation because you don't want to find the answer because you already have it, you want to find Y. So you do 1,228/176Y+4." The girl went on, finally reaching the conclusion that Y7.

The teacher gave her a mordant face before moving on to the next problem.

Skittery just sat there, gazing blankly at the bored, too confused to even copy down what the teacher was writing. He leaned his head back exasperatingly and sunk down in his chair so that his feet were no longer beneath the desk but crossed in front of it.

"Complete problems C-J with a partner."

Skittery did not react to her command, assuming that since she already knew he wouldn't be able to do the problems, he would be off the hook.

The teacher began to circulate the room, peering over the shoulders of the students and watching them critically. She deliberately kicked Skittery's outstretched feet as she passed his desk, causing him to recoil and straighten his posture.

"Hunter! Watch another group and take notes. I don't want you to be totally oblivious this afternoon."

God how he hated that name! _Hunter…hunter…hunter!_ Even his parents hadn't called him that, they had always called him by his middle name; Michael.

Skittery shrugged carelessly and looked around the room for a group to observe. He spotted a boy and girl, a few desks in front of him, chatting away though quickly going back to their work when the teacher approached them.

"Can I 'ave da honor of observin' you guys?" he asked humorously, making his way over to their desks.

"Sure… but I don't think we're a great group to observe… we don't do the work."

"Exactly."

The girl chuckled and looked Skittery over analytically. She had brown eyes and reddish-brownish hair. The boy next to her had a manly frame and had dark brown hair with green eyes.

"Hi I'm Ozz." The girl outstretched her hand for Skittery to shake.

"I'm Skittery." He shook her hand delicately and waited for he boy to introduce himself.

"I'm wits."

Skittery shook the boy's hand firmly.

"So you… you used to be a newsie?" the boy asked curiously.

Skittery paused for a moment, repeating the question in his head; 'used to be a newsie.' Some how the words didn't seem to fit, especially when they were directed towards him… 'Used to be a newsie.'

"Uh… Yeah, how did ya know?"

Wits gave him a haughty smile. "_Foist_ of all, your New Yorker accent. And second, your hands are fucking inky as hell."

Skittery stared down at his ink stained hands before putting them in his lap self-consciously.

"Is it dat obvious?"

His question was rhetorical but Ozz nodded her head 'yes' any way. "But don't get us wrong… being a former newsies isn't a bad thing … it's kind of like a status symbol… you get a lot more respect from the jockers… having had a job and all."

"Is dat so?"

"Yeah, it is." Wits replied heatedly.

Skittery could tell that Wits was getting tired of his conceited attitude though Ozz didn't seem to mind it or notice it for that matter.

"So, you guys really don't do any of da woik?" Skittery asked sincerely, facing Ozz and blocking Wits from view.

"Nope. Why should we? In a year we'll be out and none of this will matter. The grades we get in this class wont matter. If we get punished for not doing our work… it wont matter." Ozz's voice was defiant and full of energy, leading Skittery to think that she had given a lot of thought to this reasoning.

"I see."

The girl smiled at him warmly.

Suddenly, the teacher cleared her throat beckoning the class's attention. Skittery heard wits groan next to him.

"For homework tonight please complete problems J-O."

Outside the classroom the period bell began to ring, signaling that it was lunchtime.

The rustling of papers echoed about the room as the kids hastily put away their books in excitement for the midday meal.

"Nice to meet to Skittery." Ozz swung her bag over her shoulder.

"Yeah nice to meet you." Wits repeated, starting to walk towards the front door. Ozz followed him though turned back on second thought.

"Hey… do want to sit with us during lunch?" her voice was hopeful and buoyant.

"Uh… my… friend and I were goin ta sit together."

"Oh he could sit with us too…" Ozz put in defensively.

Skittery swung his bag on to his shoulder, thinking over her offer. "I'lll ask _her_, she should be right out side if you wanna wait."

"Sure."

Wits was waiting for Ozz by the door and as she approached he put his arm around her waist, giving her a small peck on the cheek.

"Why didn't ya guys jus smooch in class?"

"We don't want to die a slow and tragic death that's why." Wits responded sarcastically. When standing, he and Skittery were about the same height and Ozz was about 4 inches shorter.

Outside the room, Skittery saw royal waiting and waved her over.

She strolled over to the small group, looking questionably at Ozz and Wits. Skittery gave a kiss hello and wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Ah… royal dis is Ozz and wits" Ozz gave royal a gentle smile while Wits's expression remained indifferent. Suddenly wits face warmed up slightly and he looked up at royal.

"Hey, haven't I seen you here before?"

Royal gave out a sigh of laughter. "Probably. Mrs. Muller gave me a bit of a …vacation this month… just got back."

Wits nodded his head thoughtfully.

"Um… we had just asked Skittery if you two would like to join me and wits for lunch?" Ozz's voice was sweet and gentle as before.

Skittery desperately hoped royal would say no, he was looking forward to some alone time with her and didn't want it to be spoiled by another couple. He knew royal was not the kind of girl who would turn down an invitation, that would be rude and rude was something royal was most certainly not, but he still had hope she would refuse.

"Sure."

Skittery's hope crashed within.

Ozz smiled benevolently, "we'll meet you in the mess hall then. See you in a few."

Ozz and Wits turned around to leave, still hand in hand.

Royal turned to Skittery and shrugged optimistically. He shrugged back at her though his movements lacked her enthusiasm. He reached up and kissed him on the lips, before finding his hand and making their way down the hall.


	13. chapter 13

Royal's point of view

Royal and Skittery made their way to the mess hall in silence, Skittery side glancing her every few seconds.

"How was literature?" he asked, breaking the air with his words.

She shrugged, " we just read. I didn't have the book so I kinda jus dozed off." She chuckled a she recalled the incident "Mr. McRow started exsplodin on me in front of the class cause I wasn't paying attention."

Her chuckles died down and she shrugged once more. Royal waited for Skittery to talk about his previous class.

"Yeah I dozed off a lot too. I have to go ta da teacher aftah' supper though… she wants to 'tudor me'. Figure I might as well go or else im gonna be totally lost every single class."

Royal smiled at him, suddenly filled with pride in how well he was handling their awful situation.

They entered the mess hall and Skittery pointed out Wits and Ozz who were sitting at a table in the back of the large room.

The room was about two times the size of the distribution office and its walls were of a pale color. There were 3 vast windows in the room from which, streams of sunlight were filtering in. A line of children had formed along one of the walls, heading towards a line of food. The children had trays in hand and were leaning against the wall disdainfully, waiting for their turn to get lunch. Several rows of the tables stood adjacent to one another, half of them already filled with students eating their mid day meal.

Royal pulled Skittery into the line, handing him a tray from a stack near the door.

The line soon began to shorten as one by one the kids got their food and sat down at one of the many free tables.

Royal slid her tray along a metal rail, collecting her meal in parts; mash potatoes first, coleslaw second and water third.

She and Skittery made their way to Ozz and Wits's table in the back of the hall, grabbing forks as they passed the utensils bin.

"Its as good as it gets." Wit's remarked contemptuously, eyeing his mashed potatoes.

"Well at least you eating today." Ozz responded in a serious tone. She turned her attention to royal and Larkins as they sat down.

"Yesterday he got banned from all meals." She explained.

Skittery looked at wits quizzically. "What'd ya do?"

Wits shrugged and began to pick at the coleslaw with his fork. "Took the hinges off the office door."

Ozz gave a small laugh, "that's not all, he broke the door in two and tried barricaded the door way with the wood"

"Yeah, only the barricade part didn't work to well and I got caught."

Wits looked up at Royal and Skittery, waiting for them to react.

"Wait so dey cut you off meals because you failed?" Skittery asked Wits in an analytical manner.

"I didn't fail"

"I used to miss meals for doing shit like that too. The jockers don't do it as a punishment though; they just want you ta know whose boss… I mean why else would they give a fuck about an _attempt_ to rebel. They want you ta know that they can't be pushed around." Royal argued, deciding to contribute to the conversation that she happened to be oh so passionate about.

"Yeah, last month I had to give up my laundry duty cause I spilled my dinner on the janitor." Ozz put in, probing at her mash potatoes, "Some jocker thought I had done it intentionally but he had no proof so the most he could do was ban me from laundry; not a huge punishment but a regrettable one. The only reason he did that was so I would know that he was in charge… that he had the power to create a punishment for a simple accident."

Her words left the group of kids pondering and contemplating in silence, chewing their soggy, deadbeat food between theories.

Suddenly their thoughts were pulled to the front of the room where a pudgy man was clapping his hands forcefully, trying to signal the kids attention.

The room became quiet as one by one the children heard his raucous and turned towards him.

"I would like to remind you," the man boomed, his voice echoing off the walls of the great hall, "that visiting day will be on the 25th of this month. Feel free to call friends or acquaintances and request their visit though I would also like to remind you that there is only one visitor per child. If two come then one will have to turn around and go back home. There are no exceptions what so ever. Oh… and the roof is now open for any of you who are finished with your meals." The man turned promptly on his heals and left the room at a brisk walk.

Skittery turned to Royal and nodded his head towards the door as if to ask her if she was done and wanted to go. She nodded inertly and picked up her tray, preparing to dispose of it in one of the trash bins near the doors.

"See you guys later."

Wits nodded a good bye to the departing couple though Ozz stopped them,

"Wait what rooms are you guys in?"

"Um…" Skittery paused, searching through his mind for the information, "Bunkroom 21."

Royal watched as surprise drew took over the girls face.

"Wait you both are in 21?"

"I thought 21 was a girls bunk?" wits asked as well, looking to Skittery and royal for an answer.

"It is a girls bunk but… I dunno… I guess Mrs. Muller doesn't care… I for one don't." as royal finished her explanation she looked up at Skittery flirtatiously.

Wits shrugged and began to pick at his food again.

Ozz, noticing her friend's passive behavior, noted "sorry bout his attitude. He's usually friendlier but I guess he has been kinda bummed out about getting caught and all."

Royal shrugged letting her know it was not a big deal before picking up her tray once more and heading for the doors.


	14. chapter 14

Skittery followed royal to the doors, dropping his tray in the garbage as she had done and catching up to her a few feet ahead, slipping his arm around her waist.

Royal picked up his hand gingerly and let it fall back down by his side though she remained smiling and her eyes continued to glint.

"Not now, on the roof ok?"

Skittery nodded comprehensively, his strides becoming a little larger and his pace quickening.

Five minutes later they were on the roof of the building, the hot April sun scorching the gravel that paved the ground.

Royal squinted at the sun, shielding her eyes with her hand. She glanced around the broad stretch of turf.

About twenty young children were spread about the main area of the roof, playing various games such as marbles and baseball with stick and can. Every so often a couple would emerge from the stairwell and hurry off behind the shelter of a wall, most likely to make out.

Royal grasped Skittery's hand and pulled him past several stockades, finally stopping at a gate near the back of the roof.

She sat down cross-legged next to him, her hand migrating casually to his thigh. She saw a smile flicker across his lips as he stared at her hand.

He looked up, his eyes reflecting the sun.

"So how was ya foist day?" she asked finally.

He shrugged, tilting his head slightly to one side. "Surreal… but the days not done yet any way. What do I 'ave next?"

"Um…" royal shuffled through the papers in his bag, which he had discarded next to her before sitting down. "We both 'ave literacy again cause I got a double today."

He sighed despairingly, leaning his head back against the gate. "I barely know how to write the alphabet."

Royal attempted to comfort him; "It shouldn't be to hard for you though… I mean all you have ta do is read a book and try ta understand it... When you think about it, it could be a lot like bein' a newsie … reading shit then analyzing it and putting it your own wor…"

Suddenly Skittery grabbed her chin with his hand, forcing her into a kiss. He pulled away moments later, studying her baffled expression before looking down at his feet, dumbfounded.

"I… I just needed to… remember why I came here." His voice had lowered an octave and he seemed taken aback by his own actions.

Royal placed her hand on his thigh once more, though farther up his leg this time. He turned towards her, studying her face resting his wandering gaze on her eyes.

She bent forwards to kiss him, steadying her self on his thigh, pushing harder and harder with her tongue all the while.

Skittery with drew for a breath, sliding down against the gate until his head was level with Royal's shoulder. He leaned his head against it, picking up one of her hands and inspected it playfully, tracing the curve of her delicate fingers with one of his own more masculine ones.

Royal could tell that their 'fooling around' had put him in a better mood for the scorn in his face had disappeared all together.

"So," Skittery said, still toying with her fingers, " I didn't see you mixing with many kids…"

Royal sighed inwardly "Yeah… I wasn't great friends with many kids my age…I always hung out with the older kids when I was younger so… when they left the orphanage…I was still here…and…I guess I just never made friends after that…kinda kept to my self"

He starred at her irreverently, finally taking his eyes off her hand.

"What?" she asked, playfully punching his shoulder.

" No wonder you were so incredibly miserable here… who did you talk to all day?" He chuckled to him self, placing his eyes once more on her limp hand still in his grasp.

"I had some… friends I guess… they were more like _acquaintances_ though."

Skittery sighed, patting her hand mockingly. "Well I'm here now so… there's no need ta be lonely no more."

She laughed, placing a kiss on his head lovingly.

"Hey, who are ya goin' ta invite for visiting day dis month?" royal asked, changing the subject.

Skittery sat up straight, contemplating on an answer.

"I dunno… figured I would send da boys a letter bout it and they could just choose for themselves." He shrugged uncaringly, "you?"

Royal paused not having prepared an answer. "Maybe Mush, … he was the one who saw us last and all… before we left ya know."

Skittery nodded agreeably.

A moment of silence passed between the two of them.

Skittery checked his pocket watch for the time, nodding to himself as he took in the information.

"Listen we only have like 5 minutes left so…"

His hand made its way to her breast, where it rested uneasily.

Royal looked down at it then back up at Skittery who was smiling pettily at her. She gently lifted his hand off her chest, placing it on her thigh instead.

Skittery's newly relocated hand began to inch its way up her leg, pulling her dress up along with it. It stopped just below her hip, the fabric of her dress now gathered under its grasp.

Royal looked down at her exposed leg and then back up at Skittery who was still smiling. She shifted her position beside him so that she was now partly on his lap, her knees on either side his legs.

He leaned towards her, his mouth begging a kiss. Royal complied happily and bent forwards towards Skittery's awaiting mouth, wrapping her arms around his neck and playing gently with the hair on the back of his head. He began to wrap a lock of her hair around his finger as their tongues twisted with fiery passion.

Suddenly a loud whistle blew, summoning the children's return to the main roof.

Skittery sighed, leaning his head back against the gate in frustration.

Royal stood up from his lap, straightening out her dress from its crumpled position by her hip. She could see other couple standing up from behind the short walls, each in a disheveled state though some more then others.

Skittery stood up next to her, flattening down his tousled hair and looking around as well.

They approached the main area of the roof, their bags swung around their shoulders and their hands in each other's grasp.


	15. chapter 15

"Wake up you rotten kids!"

A large hand roughly jabbed royal in the side, causing her to recoil her eyelids still shut. She opened her eyes, squinting through the sunlight that cascaded over her face from a tiny window near the right wall. A greasy man stood over her, his hand ready to hit her again.

"I'm up" she muttered to the man resignedly, hauling her self out of the bed covers and folding them neatly back into place.

Royal glanced around her bunkroom. There were over 15 bunks in the petite room, each surrounded by personal objects such as combs and books.

Skittery smiled jadedly at her from his bunk in the corner. He was sitting on his bed, his elbows resting on his knees and his back hunched over.

Suddenly royal heard a commotion over in the corner.

All the girls in the bunkroom paused momentarily, glancing over into the corner where the sound was coming from though quickly regained motion once more upon seeing the distraction.

In the corner the man towered over the bottom bunk from which royal could make out a girl and a boys face.

"What have we here?" the man asked, his voice as slimy as his appearance.

Royal picked up her clothes on the end of her bed, her eyes remaining on the man and the girl and the boy.

"No… it's not what you think… Mr.…" the boys stuttered, sitting up rigidly in bed.

The man wasted no time for explanations.

"C'mon off to Mrs. Muller's with ya, I'd hate ta bother her this early in da morning but… she'll know what ta do wit you."

The man grabbed the collar of the boys night uniform and tugged the girl by the arm, dragging them out of bed and out into the hall way.

Royal could hear the boy still protesting down the hall. She glanced over at Skittery, who caught her gaze and shrugged, picking up his uniform and once again balancing it on his shoulder.

He had neglected the orphanage's night uniform and was only wearing his pink long johns.

She silently pitied him and wondered how red his cheeks would flush once the guys in the washroom began to laugh at the color of his long johns.

Royal entered the ladies washroom, which was already packed with girls waiting to change.

A few of the older, less timid girls had taken to changing out side the stalls and royal decided to do the same.

She undressed hastily, pulling on her day clothes and ignoring the stares she got from the slightly younger children.

She took possession of a free washbasin, getting there only moments before another girl who gave her a hateful look before going off in search of another free sink.

She splashed her face, rubbing her skin raw with out even realizing the force of her actions.

Royal left the washroom, tying her hair into the illicit half ponytail as she did so.

Back in the bunkroom she folded her clothes, neatly putting them in a small pull out drawer beneath her bunk. Skittery walked over to her, his hands in his pockets.

"What was that all about?" he asked cooling, nodding his head towards the corner.

Royal picked up her school bag. "Oh Rotten and strum? They must 'ave slept together last night."

Skittery nodded his head, also picking up his bag. "What's goin ta happen ta dem?"

Royal shrugged, "they'll probably get dish duty or a couple of meals taken away… well not a couple more like two days and maybe a week of dish duty but still… you could do worse…" her voice trailed off.

Skittery stared out the doorway, ignoring the children coming in and out.

"C'mon lets get some break'y"

He nodded his head once more, still staring out into the hall as if he could still see the detained children.


	16. chapter 16

"Mr. Vaster, can I use da bathroom."

Royal watched as the teacher turned towards her, his eyes glinting with disgust as she came into his direct vision.

He glanced at the clock near the door and sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Ramona there are 5 minutes left in the period, cant you wait?"

Royal crossed her legs anxiously, wringing her fingers out with her hands.

"Nah, I gotta go real bad. I finished all my math problems too." She held up the completed trigonometry sheet he had given her.

The teacher sighed once more, closing his eyes in aggravation.

"Fine, next time wait for the period to end."

Royal nodded curtly, picking up her schoolbag from its spot beside her desk and turning on her heals, fleeing the classroom.

As soon as she was in the hallway she slowed down her pace, her gait becoming more comfortable.

Today was the day of their first rebellion. It was to be a minor one for, as Skittery had said earlier, they did not have much to rebel against. They had only been at the orphanage for a week and had not really experienced much maltreatment.

Royal wandered about the corridors, finally reaching her destination in front of the earth science room where Skittery was to meet her.

She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around sharply, finding her self nose to nose with Skittery. He kissed her gently on the lips, shifting his schoolbag on his shoulder so it would not get in his way.

Royal smiled against his lips and pulled back after a couple of seconds.

They did not have time for such fooling around.

"Ready?"

He nodded, his face becoming serious. "Its not like we've got anything ta be ready for though," he rationed, as they began to walk down the corridor, heading for the main hallway where most classrooms were located. "I mean… all we gotta do is wait 'til we create a accident or what ever…"

Their plan was to lie down in the middle of the hallway and wait until a child tripped over their bodies, creating a domino effect upon all other passing students.

Royal smiled demonically as she ran over their scheme in her head.

Their punishment would most likely not be very grand, detention maybe but no floors or missed meals.

They reached the most popular hallway, which was to the left of the lobby.

Suddenly the bell began to ring and the sound folders and notebooks closing could be heard coming from each classroom.

Skittery turned towards royal smiling. She gave him a toothy grin before sitting heavily on the tiled floor and spreading out her feet in front of her. She waited for Skittery to join her on the floor before lieing down completely on the tiles, the top of her head against the wall, her feet barely brushing the other side of the small hallway. Skittery had to bend his knees slightly to fit between the walls though royal reckoned that the elevation of his knees would only create more of a hazard.

The first groups of kids began to disperse from their classrooms, slowly making their way down the hall, chatting with friends. Most of the kids being let out were around 10-14 in age and royal almost pitied them for their inconvenience.

Though her sympathy soon faded as the first oblivious kids began to trip over her and Skittery's outstretched legs, their schoolbooks skidding every which way across the tile.

She muffled a laugh in the back of her throat and she could feel Skittery doing the same. Even if their rebellion did not affect the system, it was worth it just to see the faces of these stunned kids as their bodies collided with the floor.

The kids began to pile up in the hallway as the fallen ones searched for their notebooks and folders, which had been strewn across the floor at some point in their fall.

Skittery searched for Royal's hand beside him, gripping it and turning towards her smiling. He seemed to be saying the same thing she had been thinking; this is so worth it.

A couple of the misfortunate students were glaring at Skittery and her as they collected their books though royal ignored their hateful stares. She could care less about their distress.

Out of the corner of her eye, royal saw a teacher stick his head out the door looking around the hallway for the kid who was making all the raucous.

The teacher's eyes soon came to rest on she and Skittery and he scowled, gripping the doorknob in aggravation.

He began to walk over to Skittery and her, first calmly though his steps soon quickened as yet another child fell to the floor.

"Up!" the teacher shouted mercilessly at them, his voice stern yet commanding. "Up!"

He bent down and grabbed Skittery by the collar, dragging him to his feet. Once standing he took hold of Skittery's ear before reaching down for royal.

She winced as he forced her to stand, his hand tugging at her ear as well. She caught a glimpse of Skittery smiling at her though the teacher, noticing their eye contact, pulled them away from each other.

A few of the kids watching this scene began to laugh as royal and Skittery were hauled off in this awkward position and royal could feel their eyes watching her pitilessly.

The orphanage had never been this way. The children had never laughed at their acquaintance's pranks. They had joined in. Why were they laughing?

The teacher dragged Skittery and her to Mrs. Muller's office, half throwing them into the chairs outside the door. Though the man did not go away as royal had expected him to but instead stood in front of them, watching the children closely.

She wanted to be alone with Skittery.

Suddenly royal turned towards Skittery and pulled him towards her into a deep kiss, hoping this would repel the teacher and convince him to let them be. Skittery hesitated for a moment before catching on and playing along with her scheme.

The teacher gave them a scathing look before turning on his heals and leaving the room, shutting the office door behind him.

Skittery slowly pulled away from her after the man left, a smile planted firmly upon his face.

He traced his finger along Royal's chin, creating a warm sensation throughout her skin.

The door opened and Mrs. Muller stepped through the frame, her eyes resting upon Skittery's hand on Royal's cheek.

"How ironic," she remarked skeptically, folding her hands across her chest. "Come in and stop that fondling."

Both Skittery and Royal snorted with laughter though soon shushed them selves as Mrs. Muller gave them another loathsome stare.

They entered her office, taking a seat in the two armchairs in front of her desk.

Only last week they had sat in these exact chairs while Mrs. Muller had explained how their lives were to be led at the orphanage. Now they sat in the chairs, waiting to be scolded for not following the rules she had laid down then.

Mrs. Muller walked over to her desk and began to shuffle papers into that littered the desktop into a neat file.

"Well I see you two have managed to reek havoc fairly easily. Your little prank could have caused an accident. But… since it did not, thank god," her eyes wandered up to the two kids before her, "I have decided your punishment will not be all too grand. You have detention for tonight. I understand Mr. Cooper that you usually get tutored during the time scheduled for detentions so both of your detentions will be served after hours, in the testing rooms on the second floor."

Skittery gave her a sarcastic smile before looking down at the carpet covered floors once more.

Mrs. Muller caught his expression and her tone suddenly turned from informative to cold and sharp, "I am letting you two off easily today but next time your punishment will be more severe. Consider that a warning."

Skitter gave her another quick smile, shifting awkwardly in his chair.

Mrs. Muller began to arrange her desk once more,

"You two are excused."

Skittery and royal began to get out of their chairs, sending each other wordy glances.

Suddenly Skittery dove into royal, placing his lips over her mouth. Royal joined in, grabbing at Skittery's vest, her tongue clashing with his. She stole a look at Mrs. Muller who looked thoroughly horrified with their actions.

"Stop that! I said stop that! You two look like beasts."

Skittery pulled away from royal though still held on to her waist.

"Why thank you Mrs. Muller. I take that as a compliment." he replied smirking at the stunned woman.

"Out… of my sight!" Mrs. Muller fumed, pointing to the door.

Skittery smiled again, pretending to tip an imaginary hat to her.

"Have a nice day Mrs. Muller." Royal called pleasantly to the woman as she and Skittery left the room.


	17. chapter 17

Omg finally! ch 17 is up! sorry it took me so long to up date. im like working on a 1000 otherstories (lolz molly) but i felt like i had been neglecting rebel yell so...yeah im sorry. please RR!

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Chapter17

"So what did she give you guys?" wits asked coolly as he and royal made there way down the corridor to history class, the last class of the day.

"Detention fuh tonight. Its aftah' hours though."

Wits nodded his head. "Both of you in the same classroom?"

"Yah, I dunno why she didn't separate us."

"Yeah, neither do I but who's complaining." Wits responded pleasantly.

As the days had gone by since her and Skittery's arrival, royal had learned that wits was actually a pretty nice guy. It was no wonder that a girl like Ozz would want to go out with him.

They entered the classroom calmly, taking seats at a double desk by the window and slowly taking out their notebooks.

"What do you say we skip this class?"

Royal smiled turning to wits, "We're already here, we gots witnesses."

Wits chuckled, "C'mon, Mr. Blaine hasn't showed up yet and none of the kids would tell, none of them are snitches."

"But I'm already in trouble as it is…"

"Yeah so what? C'mon, history's a bore…"

"All classes are a bore." Royal interrupted, putting her notebook under her arm and picking her discarded bag off the floor. "Lets go find Skittery and Ozz, I think Ozz has chem. so she probably hasn't been let in ta da class yet. I'm not sure what Skittery has."

"Does he have art?" wits asked, looking at her for clarification as they reached the front of the room and headed out towards the hallway.

"Yeah he does, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, so we don't have to worry about that."

Art class was the only class students actually enjoyed for its teacher was Ms. Cram and Ms. Cram was the only nice teacher in the school. Although Ms. Cram allowed students to skip her classes, most chose not to. Every child in the school treasured their art periods as they treasured laundry duty; it was still a class though it could easily be called fun.

Wits had been right in assuming that the chemistry class would still be out in the hallway and as they rounded the corner royal spotted Ozz leaning carelessly against the wall, her backpack by her feet.

"Don't you both have history?" she asked, pushing herself away from the wall and walking over to them, her face showing utter confusion.

"Nah." Wits replied coolly, his arm now around his lover's waist.

"Yeah, we decided it's a bore." Royal added in, sporting a toothy grin.

Slowly realization spread over Ozz's face and she smiled as well, "wait aren't you and Skittery in enough trouble as it is?"

"What are ya talkin' bout! You can nevah' be in enough trouble!" royal exclaimed.

Ozz looked from royal's eager face to wit's equally keen one.

"C'mon chemistry don't matter none! Its just…well chemicals and shit. It's a breeze to pass anyway!"

Again Ozz looked from royal to wits, her eyes glinting with enthusiasm.

"Fine." She said, throwing her hands up in surrender, "Gloria will vouch for me anyway. Lets go get skits."

Gloria was Ozz's best friend and had been since god knows how long. Royal was not particularly fond of Gloria; she was nice of course but also extremely manic, like a bug buzzing around your ear that wont fly off even when you swat it away. Wits did not like Gloria much either but for other reasons then her personality.

Ozz went to retrieve her bag from beside the door, stopping to tell a mousy haired girl where she was going.

Gloria nodded and waved to royal and wits pleasantly. They waved back apathetically, resisting the urge to roll their eyes at the small girl.

"Off to art then." Ozz pronounced, hooking arms with royal, bouncing up and down slightly as she walked.

Both royal and wits nodded a 'yes', quickening their pace to catch up to Ozz's livelier one. How a girl could still have this much energy at the end of the day would always puzzle royal.

They rounded the corner, heading for the art room, discussing what they should do in their free period.

Wits thought they should find the key to the roof and go up their but both royal and Ozz found it pointless to escape to the roof when they were already aloud up there everyday without an argument.

"We could go in the band room." Ozz offered, looking up at royal and wits.

Royal knew better then to let Ozz use the band room while they were supposed to be in class. Ozz was deathly addicted to guitar and letting her use the band room would not only attract teachers but also a crowd of kids, cheering her on.

Royal shook her head 'no' causing Ozz to sulk momentarily before cheering up once more, her smile returning.

Wits put his arm around his lover's shoulder affectionately, forcing royal and Ozz to unhook arms and causing royal to feel extremely out of place.

Royal shifted her school bag uneasily on her shoulder, quickening her pace slightly so as to reach the art room faster.

Down the left hallway they walked, passing by room after room to the art room in the back of the corridor.

Royal poked her head inside the room, her eyes grazing the faces in the room and finally coming to rest on Skittery's beaming one.

As always the room was a mess; cluttered with canvases, paint splatters apparent on every table, stools haphazardly scattered about the room. About 7 kids surrounded each of the 4 long, dirty tables, each wearing smocks, brushes in hand. Ms. Cram, the art teacher, was in the corner of the room; helping a tall, glassy eyed boy, shape his pot into a better circle.

Royal was finally able to make eye contact with Skittery and as their eyes met, his smile soon faded and was replaced with a concerning look. Pulling off his paint-splattered smock, he walked over to them, his eyes never leaving Royal's face.

"Wanna skip?" royal asked calmly as he approached them.

A smile soon spread onto Skittery's olive toned face, "Yeah, sure…hold on."

He dumped the smock in his hands into a small basket full of dirty rags and other smocks.

Turning he called towards the corner of the room, "ah…Ms. Cram I'm gonna scat!"

The woman nodded her head pleasantly before turning back to the glassy eyed boy.

"I feel real bad bout leavin her class but it don't matter I guess." Skittery admitted once the group was in the hallway once more, his arm around Royal's waist, his bag slung across his shoulder, "so where we goin' anyway?"

Royal shrugged, looking to wits and Ozz for an answer.

"I dunno, but we better get out of the hallway before someone sees us." wits said, leading Ozz by the hand towards the back of the main corridor.

Skittery gave royal a perplexed look before following wits and Ozz down the hall.

"Hey, why you guys playin' hooky for one period?" Skittery whispered in Royal's ear as they promenaded down the great hallway.

Royal shrugged, "why not?"

She gave Skittery an amiable smile and laid a small kiss upon his cheek.

They reached the back of the hallway, dodging open classroom doors so no teacher would see them amble by. Up ahead, wits threw open a painted over window facing them, revealing a rusted fire escape.

"Hey, I thought the fire escape was in the front of the building?" royal questioned.

Wits smiled knowingly pleased at his own knowledge of the building.

"They don't use this one anymore," he explained, hauling himself out the window, on to the fire escape and then helping Ozz through as well, "Bout 15 years ago there was a fire on the second floor and this…" he tapped the railing with his hand, letting in vibrate freely after in his quake "this is cast iron. So, being cast iron and the fire having been on the second floor, half the second floor stairs melted off."

Royal looked up and to her surprise found that indeed, metal strips were hanging off the second floor landing and there were large gaps in both the stairs and the catwalk.

"You guys use this often?" Skittery asked following royal through the window and shutting it behind him.

"We have had our fair deal of fun out here nights." Ozz giggled, looking up at Wits who was smiling puckishly.

"You two make me sick," Skittery remarked though still smiling a broad grin.

"Ha! You hypocrite!" Ozz retorted, her mouth agape in awe that Skittery would say such a thing.

"I'm still a clean virgin so ya can't call him a hypocrite yet." Royal chuckled, beginning to climb the fire escape.

Mockingly, Skittery stuck his nose up in agreement, sneering at Ozz, "yeah, I'm no hypocrite…yet."

Both Ozz and wits fell into fits of giggles.

"Yeah, yet…" wits managed to say between snorts though only received a playful prod in the ribs from Skittery.

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that was a short chapter i know but hopefully ill have a more eventful one posted by the end of this week.


	18. Chapter 18

omg im sooo proud of myself! i updated before molly had to yell at me about neglecting this story! arnt you so proud of me molly! lolz. sry. this chapter gets alittle lemon i guess...like pg lemon if that makes sense. owell...have fun and please reveiw!

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Once on the 3rd floor landing of the fire escape in front of Ozz's bunkroom, royal turned around to face Ozz face to face.

"Wait, what're you guys plannin' on doin in there?" she asked cautiously, searching Ozz's eyes for an answer.

"What you two are too afraid to do."

Both Skittery and royal rolled their eyes.

"What? It's the perfect opportunity! You saw what happened to rotten and strum last week."

Royal sighed at the truth in Ozz's rationale; they were going to do it anyway, might as well do it at a time when they wouldn't get caught.

Skittery gave Wits a toothy, all-knowing smile.

In the past 2 weeks it seemed that wits and Larkins had bonded profoundly. Everyday, royal heard about another one of his and Wits's inside jokes or saw them talking to each other, punching each other playfully in the shoulder and cracking corny jokes.

"Well you two have fun." Skittery said dismissively, waving off the couple with a flick of his hand.

As Ozz was climbing through the third floor window, Wits turned around to face Skittery and mouthed a 'yesss!' his face showing clear excitement and enthusiasm.

Once the couple had exited the stairwell, Skittery pulled royal into a kiss, pressing her up against the wall next to the partially open window, his body suffocating hers.

She smiled against his lips, her hands disappearing underneath his shirt, her fingertips tracing every muscle in his chest. Soon his hands were under her dress as well, his masculine fingers caressing her breasts while she laid numerous kisses along his neck.

Slowly they sank down on the fire escape landing, Royal's dress bunched up near her stomach, and Skittery's shirt fully unbuttoned revealing his stunning chest.

Oh how much longer would she be able to maintain her virginity when she had such a striking specimen of man to call her own?

Skittery's fingers fumbled with the buttons on the back of royal dress, puling down the torso of the uniform to reveal her blossoming bosom pushed up into visibility by a black brassier.

A smile lit up over Skittery's face as he stared down at what he had discovered.

"Oh, its really not that fascinating." Royal remarked, trying to draw Skittery's attention away from her exposed chest.

"It's da the best thing I've evah' seen." Skittery chuckled, his eyes fixated.

There they were, on a fire escape, a young couple, the girl with her dress pulled to her waist, her bra in full view, and the boy with his shirt almost completely off of his body, his long johns unbuttoned to his waist.

Royal had repositioned herself on Skittery's lap so that she was now straddling him. Their tongues were clashing, their mouths sucking the air out of each other, pulling up for a breath every once and a while. Royal's breasts were flattened against Skittery's chest while she slowly twirled her finger around a strand of his hair.

A soft muted, murmur came from his throat. Royal with drew slightly, willing the words to become audible.

"Marry me?"

Royal abruptly pulled away from Skittery's mouth, yanking him away from her chest by a fistful of his hair.

"What?"

She tried feverishly to convince herself that he was joking.

"Nah…royal… I don't know what I said… I didn't mean it… I swear." Skittery stuttered to correct himself, his face contorted in shame and guilt and angst.

"Skittery?"

"Royal…no…I said it in me head… and it came out by accident…I don wanna…yet."

"Good…" royal put in hastily though went on to explain herself, "Cause we're too young…not ta sound prude or anythin'…jus…we're only 17."

Royal felt her cheeks turn the same color as Skittery's.

"Yeah…I agree…I'm real sorry…I jus fucked up our free period didn't I? I'm real sorry royal…I didn't mean ta…"

Skittery's eyes were averted to the metal floor of the fire escape, his head hung low.

"No, no, no don't worry bout it," royal assured him, her hands going out to touch his, softly, "its good to know I guess…"

Skittery's face went an even darker shade of red.

"I did fuck it up…we was havin' a perfectly good time…I'm real sorry."

"No, its good ya said it. I know it's been on me mind a lot too… us bein' so…close and all…its kinda hard not ta think bout it."

"Yeah," Skittery agreed quickly, "but I'm still real sorry bout it all."

Royal could tell he was just glad she hadn't held his 'slip' against him in anyway. He looked up into her eyes, a soft glint portraying in their oval spectrum. Her grip tightened on his hands.

"Aw skits, I love ya so much."

She laid a small kiss upon his lips, which curved up into a slight smile.

"Promise me ya wont ever leave me."

Royal smiled pleasantly at Skittery, "Now how we always gonna be together if you turn 18 in a couple months. You'll be out'a this hell hole and I'll be here until next march..."

"I ain't gonna forget bout' 'cha if that's what ya mean." Skittery interrupted, looking at royal in a, now, quizzical fashion.

"Nah, I know ya wont."

"So do ya promise?"

"I promise on me parents graves dat I will never, ever leave ya. Now will ya be able ta rest easy?"

"Like a rock." His feverish grin appeared once more, his eyes glinting demonically. "And by da way, I love ya too."

"Oh I already knew that." royal replied dismissively with a wave of her hand, Skittery's catchy grin spreading to her own face.


	19. Chapter 19

the chapters will probably stop coming in next week i guess cause i gots camp lolz (score!) R/R!

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That night Skittery and royal sat in detention, both their faces showing clear anguish. They knew why they were in detention, but that did not mean they wanted to be there. Not when all other students, blissfully unaware of their absence, were playing and taking showers, enjoying their last free period of the day.

Skittery shot a quirky smile over at royal, giving her a wink before standing up quietly, willing his chair not to scratch the wooden floors with its iron legs.

The chair obliged and Skittery was able to stand up without disturbing the resting Mr. Berkowitz.

Royal watched anxiously as Skittery approached the teacher's desk on tiptoe, reaching into the teacher's jacket pocket and pulling out a large chain of keys. He dangled them deftly as one would a medal recently obtained.

A broad smile spread about the boy's face.

Royal shook her head, "skits, uh uh. We're in enough trouble as it is…" she whispered hoarsely.

"Ain't you the one whose always sayin' you can nevah' be in enough trouble? Besides, no one will evah' know. This bum will wake up in a couple hours when the 'lights out' bell rings and assume Mrs. Muller let us out already; his keys will be back in his pocket so where's the evidence we was evah gone."

Royal was still shaking her head 'no'; personally it didn't make sense for them to earn them selves a detention, skip out on the detention they earned, and then get in even more trouble for skipping.

Skittery began to beg, both with his eyes and with his words.

"C'mon!" he whispered huskily, getting down on his knees beside Royal's chair, "please! Think bout how much the teachers will hate us even if we do get caught! They'll always know that even if they catch us in da act, they can't really punish us for our rebellion cause we'll find a way ta avoid that too! Please! What we gonna do in this shit hole for an two hours anyway? Nothin' excitin' less we want the teacher ta wake up."

"Fine." Royal declared, throwing her hands up in the air, surrendering to Skittery's logic, "lets go get ourselves caught, again!"

"Now that's the spirit!" He smiled pleasantly, pulling royal from her seat and placing his arm around her shoulder.

She sighed pessimistically, rolling her eyes at him.

Skittery led her down the hallway, his hand slowly migrating from her shoulder to her waist where it clung lovingly.

She scowled up at him, "I still dunno why we're doin' this?" she snapped heatedly.

The point of them staying in the orphanage was to make trouble but not all on the same day! How rebellious could they be if the majority of their rebellions all occurred within the same 24 hours?

Skittery shrugged, "why not?"

Royal sighed once more as he drew her into an empty classroom. Skittery let go of her waist and wandered to the center of the room, searching blinding for an overhead light.

"Shut the door will ya?" Royal obliged cautiously, still a bit tentative of their escape from detention.

Suddenly the moonlit classroom was filled with a dim, gloomy light as Skittery found the light switch and was able to turn it on.

Royal looked about the room. It was the earth science room.

Suddenly she knew why Skittery had brought her here. The earth science teacher, Mr. valence, had shower duty every other day of the week, leaving his classroom unguarded and vacant. Not only his classroom but his sleeping and living quarters as well.

Tonight was his night for shower duty.

Skittery smiled as he watched recognition spread over his lover's face.

"I wonda' if Mr. valence has somethin' ta drink?" Skittery continued to seduce royal into his plans for the evening.

"Drink as in liquor?" Royal grinned flirtatiously.

Within minutes, Skittery had gotten Mr. valence's bedroom door open, using a pocketknife. She and him stumbled into the dimly lit room, the only light, a quarter moon cascading over the desk and tabletop. She found a candle and lit it, waving it around the room for a better view of their surroundings.

The room was quite small, about the size of a normal bunkroom, and contained only a bed, a writing desk, a counter complete with washbasin and a small bathroom stall in the corner.

Skimming her delicate fingers along the countertop, royal stared out the window, onto the New York City streets. The air was brisk and cool, cleansing royal thought to her self as she closed her eyes and breathed in the chilly air.

"Hey royal," Skittery beckoned her towards the writing desk.

She crouched down next to him and peered into the dark, narrow drawer beneath the desk.

There, lay 10 bottles of malt, all tightly fastened and beside them a bottle opener.

Skittery turned his head slightly and kissed Royal's cheek softly, grinned so very feverishly at his discovery.

"This is just fine." Skittery murmured next to royal, his legs sprawled out in front of him, the malt bottle dangling from his hand. Royal nodded, a jaded, weary smile that had been plastered upon her face for some time now.

She knew he didn't just mean the liquor. He also meant the freedom in drinking it. The feeling of rebellion pitted at the bottom of both their stomachs. The knowledge that they were completely alone; just the two of them. No friends having sex in the next room over. There weren't any other students bustling by. It was just them and the soporific silence.

Both she and Skittery hadn't had real alcohol for a month. Not since the birthday party the boys had thrown for her in the lodging house. How was it, she began to wonder, that something only a month ago, could seem a lifetime ago? Now and then she would think back to the newsboys lodging house, her month long vacation, but recently the memory's had become increasing harder to recall. The reminiscence faded away and pretty soon she had begun to forget what it felt like to be free.

"Skittery," she voiced, finally deciding that her thoughts were to much for her to handle by her self, "you remembah' what the lodging house was like?"

She stole a sideways glance, checking Skittery's expressions, making sure she hadn't gone to far.

"Nah…" he took another swig of his malt, his lips making a smacking sound as they drew away from the bottle.

"Really… you don't remember at all?"

Skittery gave her a wry look and repeated his answer with more force, "no, I don't."

Royal nodded her head comprehensively.

"If ya have 2 bits, how many papes can ya buy?"

Skittery shrugged, taking yet another drink, "I dunno, how many?"

Royal stared at him incredulously; as drunk as she was, something like this was not going to slip by.

"Wait, ya really don't remembah'?"

"I really don't remembah' so come off it already."

Royal turned away from Skittery, staring at the wall straight ahead of them.

How the hell could he not remember the place he had lived for over 4 years? Was he just not trying or was he too drunk?

She felt his hand on her thigh.

"How am I supposed ta remembah' when I'm stuck in a place like this?" he comforted.

He managed a giddy smile, to over powered by the liquor to do anything more. Royal smiled back, still in the midst of finishing off her first bottle.

"Now I don't want ya too drunk cause I don't wanna haf'ta take advantage of ya." Skittery declared, watching her drink.

"You wouldn't dare." Royal giggled, becoming increasingly light headed.

"With what you've been givin' me, oh yes I would."

" Your time will come soon enough." She chuckled, turning towards him and running her fingers through his brown hair, feeling its texture like she never had before.

She felt his tongue, slide along her cheek, leaving a trickle of saliva in its quake. She pulled away from his lips.

"Now, even when I'm drunk, I know that that's just plain disgusting." She giggled, bracing her self against his warm body.

"Nah, its romantic." Skittery beamed, his voice just as frivolous as hers.

"Spit? Kisses and hugs and making love…thats romantic… spit's a whole 'nother story."

"Fine… kisses then."

His lips began to pluck away at her neck, leaving a small red mark wherever they roamed.

"My turn." She got up, staggering a bit, and sat down on his lap, sucking on his neck as he had and leaving similar red marks.

She was on her third bottle of malt, Skittery his fourth.

"Stop at that one, we need to get back into the room."

How he had rationale while being this incredibly drunk was a question that could never be answered and would puzzle royal for eternally.

She nodded, slowly sliding off his lap.

His hand flew to her thigh once more, "I said stop the drinkin'. You can stay _there_… I don't mind." He chuckled seductively, his eyes glimmering through their bloodshot coloring.

Her shirt was off. His pants were down.

"Now this…this is romance."


End file.
